Reflected Legacy
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: Leia's dreams lead her and Han back to Tatooine, and force her to confront her heritage in the most unlikely way possible: By reliving it.  Time Travel
1. Prologue

First, I would like to thank my new beta reader Raynuk Montar and my friends Legalien an Daricio for letting me bounce ideas off of them! You guys Rock!

Title: Reflected Legacy  
>Rating: PG<br>Rated for: For some violence and adult themes  
>Critique level: [CRITIQUE ENCOURAGED]<p>

Summary: Leia's dreams lead her and Han back to Tattooine, and force her to confront her heritage in the most unlikely way possible: By reliving it.

PROLOGUE

32 ABY

He hated this planet. Even though he'd grown up here, he felt absolutely no love for Tattooine, despite the fact that he'd returned to the forsaken wasteland on several occasions, mostly to look over whatever Ben Kenobi had left for him to rebuild the Jedi Order.

And what a success _that_ had been.

"Dad? You there?" Ben Skywalker's voice came over the transmitter. Luke couldn't help but grin at his son's bored tone. Like father like son.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied.

"It's so hot here! How did you ever survive growing up in this place?"

He chuckled. "Sometimes I wonder that myself. Have you finished checking over the Falcon?"

"Yeah., twice. Amelia just went to check a third time," Luke wanted to smile at that-he could practically see the eye roll—but truthfully, he was worried about his great-niece more than he was willing to say. Han and Leia were like parents to her despite their age. "It's just like we figured; locked up tight and stored away. They haven't been here since they contacted you."

Luke didn't like the sound of that. Han and Leia never left the Falcon alone for long. It had become their home, almost a member of the family in its own right. "I'm almost to the Dune Sea. I'll check the hut over and be back before nightfall."

"With Aunt Leia and Uncle Han right behind you." Luke grinned at the ever more sarcastic voice. "Right after you chew them out for not answering your calls."

At that, Luke did laugh. "Ben, you know as well as I do that no one chews your aunt out any more than-" He cut off as he rounded the last of the rocky curves leading to the large expanse known as the Dune Sea.

"Dad?" Ben asked worriedly.

"It's not here..." Luke commented, checking around to make sure he'd found the right place. Yes, the path he currently followed should lead directly to the old hut Ben Kenobi used to live in. He'd been there often enough. Instead of the small but sturdy home made out of stone and various cheap metals, a rather large pit could be seen, now slowly filling with sand.

"What's not there?" His son asked, probably wishing they'd set up a video feed.

"The hut! I've been here a dozen times. This is the right place but it's just...vanished!"

And that's when Ben's sarcastic sense of humor came through yet again. "Of course. Why would we expect this to be easy?"


	2. Chapter 1

_Two months earlier_

"So this is it, eh?" Leia heard her husband, Han Solo remark in an extremely unimpressed tone as he looked around the little hovel that had once passed for a home.

Leia nodded, silently agreeing with her husband's sentiments. "This is it." They had officially reached the home of Obi-Wan Kenobi, complete with multiple layers of dust and sand from all the years it had stood empty. Luke had claimed to come back several times, in each instance going over the hut with a fine-toothed comb, but it didn't look like anyone had been there in decades. When Leia had told her brother about her dreams, he had insisted that nothing could possibly be there, but those dreams urged her to come again and again. That had only confused Luke, but he and Saba had warned her on many occasions to not ignore force visions, and there was no mistaking that those dreams were indeed force visions. So she'd come.

"Nice place," Han muttered under his breath. Leia let a spark of a smile touch her lips. Jedi "mumbo-jumbo" or not, she was glad he'd come. After all they'd been through, his presence reassured and calmed her. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

"Right. Why am I not surprised? Stupid hokey religion." She knew he didn't mean any of his cynicism. He'd seen people use The Force often enough that couldn't possibly not believe, but he'd seemed to take up the mantra since Jacen... Well, since things had gone so badly. He'd only begun to vocalize it recently, and now it stood as more of a sad joke than anything.

"Oh, quit complaining and help me look," Leia commented, bending down to examine some neatly-stacked crates in one corner.

"Of course, Your Worship." She sent him a deadly gaze, but said nothing as he began to rifle through the visible cupboards. He'd also taken to calling her that again after how many years? Of course, she'd never admit out loud that she found it just as attractive now as she had back then.

Maybe he was finally coming to terms with Anakin and Jacen. Or maybe he was reverting to his old routines to continue dealing with it. Either way, it felt good to have the old Han back.

xXx

Three hours later, they both sat on the lumpy stools that barely passed for furniture, regarding each other and then the hovel around them in quiet turns.

"How could Luke stand living here?" Leia asked, trying to ignore the heat. It probably wasn't affecting her as badly as it was Han, though. At least she could release a great deal of it into The Force. When she saw Saba next, she would thank her immensely for not slacking on that particular area training.

"As I recall, he couldn't," Han muttered, allowing his head to lean against the dry wall. "Always hated this planet myself."

"And we still have no idea why I'm supposed to be here," she muttered, unable to stop her tone from sounding just a touch annoyed. They hadn't found a single thing that Luke hadn't already gone over. No dangerous Jedi secrets, no special message meant for her (or anyone for that matter), not even a scrap of writing as Luke had long since taken any journals or data pads off planet.

After several seconds of silence, Han stood up with some effort, his hair brushing the ceiling and consequently gaining even more dust and sand in the already dirty mess. Leia wondered briefly how long it would take to get it all out. She'd heard Luke's rant on sand often enough to know that it would be a while. He'd claimed to actually still find sand somewhere on his person months after he'd gone within any distance of the substance.

"Well," her husband said, sounding his many years for once. She'd always been amazed at how well they'd both aged, but every now and then, it showed. "Guess we'd better-"

"Let's spend the night," she heard herself blurt suddenly, cutting him off.

He paused, blinking down at her incredulously. "What? You actually want to stay in this piece of-"

"Han," she warned, scowling briefly. He stopped. "Look, just for the night, okay? We have enough rations, and there are places to sleep..."

"You're gonna make me curl up on the floor just to spend a night here on a whim?"

She sighed, wanting to argue, but she did see his point. "Well, you can go back to the town. I'm sure you could find-"

"You think I'd leave you out here on your own?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I can handle myself."

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll go get the packs."

She grinned as he walked out. Count on Han to make her smile. The expression faded as she looked around at the mess they'd made. Seemed their work would be cut out for them. Luke would say something about turning this into an exercise and Saba would probably comment on doing the work thoroughly and as soon as possible (probably not in those words, but still). Well, she did need to work on her precision a bit more...

Han returned not five minutes later to see his wife sitting with her eyes closed in the middle of a clean room-well, the floor was clean. Every single speck of dust and dirt had risen into the air and now floated around her in a slow, swirling sort of dance.

"Show off," he muttered to himself, causing her to smirk. Then all of the dirt flew right by him and out into the desert wind, where she released it to be blown away onto the dunes.

"I still had to pick it up in clumps," she muttered when she opened her eyes. "Need to work on that."

"Perfectionist too. I'd say that came from your being raised as royalty, but I've met your brother."

She snickered. "Skywalkers never do things partially."

Han shook his head, "Poor Ben. He inherited all the Skywalker crud and whatever the heck Mara gave him too." Well, at least he had censored himself.

The comment still amused her, and she refused to let any sad thoughts about her sister-in-law mar the mood.

xXx

Leia wasn't sure what woke her up. Truthfully, she couldn't say that she actually felt awake either, but half-way through the night, she somehow found herself trudging out of the doorway and into the surprisingly cool night air.

Something was calling her.

Time passed. She had no idea how much, nor was she in the proper state of mind to care. Somehow, she was aware of the minutes trickling by, but only in a vague, half-dazed sense. It seemed like an eternity and yet the blink of an eye all at once.

A mound of rock came to her mind's eye. It stood cowering with the rest of the weathered sandstone in the area, worn down by eons on the edge of the dune sea.

A cave. A small cave near the top...somehow, she could feel it imploring for her to-

"Leia!" A hand on her shoulder had her jumping fully back to reality. Eyes wide, she looked up to see Han staring down worriedly.

"Han? What...?" Looking around, she couldn't seem to remember what she'd just been doing or how she'd gotten here. They stood a good several meters from their rented vehicle at the edge of several mounds of rock half buried in sand. She could barely see the hut out across the desert, bright moonlight reflecting down on its bleached stone and duraplast.

She didn't remember going anywhere. Had she come here by herself? Then what was Han doing here? Probably had something to do with the still-running speeder. Had she been sleep walking? How far away from the hut were they? A kilometer? Two? Three? She only vaguely remembered walking, how had she gotten this far? And she hadn't even bothered to put her shoes or her jacket on. Thankfully, she'd gone to sleep in her typical Jedi clothes, so she could remain somewhat warm and comfortable.

"It's dangerous out here!" Han exclaimed. "What were you thinking?" Surprisingly, she couldn't answer him. She seriously doubted that if she'd continued her little excursion that she'd run into any Krayt dragons, but the Tuskan Raiders usually hunted and traveled by night. They tended to avoid going near any sort of actual building, but that didn't mean it wasn't risky. Plus Tattooine had its own share of dangerous bugs and small reptiles that also lived by night or slept unsuspecting in the sand, just waiting to be stepped on.

She shook her head, looking down at herself, and noting with a small measure of relief that she had managed to grab her lightsaber at least.

"I...don't know."

The worry lines on his face increased. "You never sleepwalk."

"I just felt...something."

He stared at her for several seconds, as if trying to weigh her words. "Okay, that's enough of this Jedi hooky business. We're leaving, tomorrow. Come on." He reached out to grab her elbow and lead her back to the run-down speeder, but she jerked away.

"No!" The word came out of her mouth before she could stop it. Han looked back at her, still worried and now more than a little perturbed. Strangely enough, the expression made him seem rather attractive in the silvery-gold moonlight. She shook the thought from her head. "There's a cave, up there," she pointed to the top of the rocky hill. "I have to go..."

"Go and what?" Han asked, the annoyance quickly turning into anger.

"I don't know," she said. "But I have to."

Before he could say anything else, she turned and bounded up the side of the relatively smooth slope, using The Force to guide her footfalls.

"Leia!" Han called after her, but she ignored him even as he let out a string of curse words that would have otherwise left him on the couch for a week. She ignored him, eyes focused on where she knew the cave would be. Her once again long hair fell around her when she stopped on a small bulge of rock just under the summit. If she hadn't been looking for the hole, she would not have seen it. And that's exactly what it was: a hole. She'd been expecting some sort of ominous opening that she'd either have to walk or crawl through. What she got was nothing more than the equivalent of an animal burrow.

Carefully, she probed into the opening with The Force. Various creatures had lived there before, she could feel the traces of their force signature implanted on the area, but none did so now. How convenient. Somehow, she didn't think it was a coincidence. She also felt something else in there.

"Leia! What the-"

"Han!" she called back, "I found something."

"What?" The sound of him scrambling up the hill side reached her ears, and she couldn't help but smile. She always felt safe with Han watching her back-almost safer than if a fellow Jedi had been there instead. "What is it?"

"I don't know."

"Do you happen to know anything?"

"I know what it's like to sleep on the couch for a month," she intoned sweetly.

He paused. "Not fair."

Carefully, she reached her hand into the hole. Something hard and square met her hand. Pulling it out slowly, so as not to scrape it or her against the sandstone, she marveled at the realization that this was what she'd come for.

"What is it?" Han's breathless voice caused her to look over at her husband. He'd caught up and now stooped to get a better view of the dirty object in her hand.

"What I came to find."

Han sighed. "Come on, let's get back. It's still dangerous here."

She nodded and began to follow him down towards the speeder. Once they'd reached the vehicle and had started back, Leia took a look at the object more closely.

It was a box, slightly larger than her hand and a good 10 centimeters deep, made of duroplast and covered in a thick layer of dirt and sand. Brushing it off, she found two pressure-sensitive indents. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed one of the slightly concave areas. Nothing happened. She pressed the other one, and a harsh mechanical, but distinctly female voice suddenly spoke up.

"Please produce sample for comparison."

She and Han exchanged glances. He shrugged as if to say, 'Don't ask me,' before turning to keep an eye on the shifting sand in front of them.

"Define sample?" Leia said, hoping that answer had been programmed in. If it wasn't a pre-set question/answer, she'd be out of luck.

"DNA Sample," the voice stated.

Oh. Well that was simple enough. Despite the dirt, she licked her finger and rubbed it along both of the indents. One had to be a receptacle of some kind.

"Sample acquired. Processing." She and Han exchanged glances again.

"That may not have been such a good idea," Han muttered. Leia didn't answer.

After a few seconds, the voice came back. "Leia Organa confirmed. Explosives disarmed. Welcome, Your Highness."

"Explosives?" her eyes widened in surprise. Han had snapped his attention to the box and was now scowling at it as the top popped open.

"Eye on the land, Han. You're driving."

Her surprise came from the idea of Obi-wan programming the greeting for her as 'your highness'. It had been decades since So Obi-wan had known Bail had adopted her.

"Told you this was a bad idea."

"I thought you liked to take a chance," she retorted.

"Been around you and your brother too long," he shot right back.

"Yes," she said dryly, "And we Skywalkers haven't been known for taking risks at all ever."

His scowl deepened. "Look, I just don't like the idea of my wife being blown to bits."

She stared at the opening of the box for several seconds. The lid still stopped her from seeing the interior, as it had simply unlocked and popped up a little.

"I know," she said softly. He was thinking about Chewie and Anakin again probably. That brought a stab of pain to her own heart. No parent should ever outlive their child. "I knew it was safe, though."

He shot her a look that stated rather plainly that he didn't believe her, but knew better than to argue the point. When he didn't respond, she focused her attention on the actual lid, and reached to open it.

Inside she found two objects. One was a piece of flimsy folded in half with the word "instructions" written on the top in basic. The other was a small recording device. It had a simple design, easy to use and obviously not of Imperial make. She hadn't seen that kind of technology for probably a good 30 years...or more if it predated the Empire.

"Well," she said, setting the device on the dashboard. "No time like the present."

"Was that you or Jaina talking?"

Leia smiled. "Force forbid my daughter should sound like me."

Han's expression softened as a sly smile touched his lips. "I was thinking that you sound more like her."

"Shut up and drive," she said, but her voice held no malice. He snickered, and left the smile openly on his face. Meanwhile, she hit the "play" button and watched as the hologram of a middle-aged man appeared in front of them.

"Kenobi," she said, recognizing the bearded Jedi from pictures her father had shown her almost immediately.

"Wait," Han studied the hologram as it began to speak. "Luke's old teacher? He looks younger than-"

"Shhh," she said, half so she could listen to the recording and half to avoid the still somewhat touchy subject.

The hologram continued to speak. "You would know me as General Obi-wan Kenobi, princess." She involuntarily flinched. It had been years since anyone besides Han had referred to her supposedly royal status. "If you are watching this, one of three situations has occurred.

"I hope this finds you in the first and best scenario. You have met Luke Skywalker and either you or he has restored the Jedi Order. If that is the case, you may completely disregard everything that is to follow and the two of you have both my congratulations and thanks for any action you've taken against the Empire. I will also wish blessings of The Force upon youso you may face whatever has compelled you to find this.

"I will address the second, and worst possible result now. You yourself have been trained in the ways of The Force by the Sith." Leia's mouth dropped open, the very implications of this scenario leaving her shocked, and slightly offended. Han looked rather upset himself, the frown now back in place on his handsome features. Obi-wan continued. "If this is the case, I warn you against trying to use any information you find on this recording as I have taken precautions. I reiterate: any use of the Dark Side in this capacity will result in an extremely undesirable situation for yourself or anyone associated with you. You have been warned.

"The third and final scenario is that you are working against a new Sith who has arisen. He is either apprenticed to Vader and they have taken over the Empire, or he has replaced Vader as Palpatine's right hand. If this is the case, then you will find the preparations I have made most effective. I also wish I could help you in your time of need, but if you are listening to this than I have rejoined The Force and will be physically unable to do so.

"I admit that I prepared this recording and the accompanying notes in the event of the third scenario. The groundwork has already been set up in the bedrock under my hovel. All you need do is specify a time or event in your mind and recite the incantation. I have taken the liberty of destroying anything that has to do with making the diagram needed, so if you are indeed associated with the dark side yourself, you will not find the answers you are looking for here. Ironic that any other information on this process was lost when the temple was destroyed." A smug if sad smile touched his face for just a few moments, and then vanished.

"If you are wondering why you have only now come to know of this, then know that you have called out for it. The Force signature would only respond if you are in desperate need of this. It is tuned to only you should the third scenario happen. I can only guess at why you have need of this, but whatever the reason may be, please use this knowledge wisely." With that, he bowed, and the flickering hologram began to fade. "May The Force be with you."

They sat staring at the blank space where the hologram had glowed not moments before. Han had completely forgotten about driving (thankfully not much in the way of obstruction happened to clutter the dune sea). They sat in silence for several seconds before Han spoke up.

"What...was that?"

"Stop asking questions I have no answer to."

"Well, read the-"

"HAN!" Leia cried out, pointing ahead of them. Ben's hut loomed ahead of them, on a direct collision course. Of course the one obstruction in the entire desert, and the best pilot in the galaxy happened to almost hit it. Oh yeah, if they lived, she'd never let him live it down.

They swerved violently, the force of the turn almost sending them both flying. When the speeder came to an abrupt stop, they sat there for several minutes, recovering.

"So good," Han breathed, a grin on his face when he turned to her, "that I get to my destination without even knowing."

"Next time," Leia said, "I'm driving."

Han raised an eyebrow, sending her that lopsided grin that always made her weak in the knees. "Over my dead body."

"Don't tempt me."

"Right, Your Worship."

She rolled her eyes bent down to get the flimsy that had fallen at her feet. That's when she realized the recording was gone. Bending down, she felt around for it, but found nothing. It must have been thrown onto the sand during Han's reckless maneuver.

"Han, the recorder! It's-"

A warning through The Force alerted her to several life signatures closing on their area. Sand people! Apparently their little excursion hadn't gone unnoticed.

"We need to get inside," she hissed, lowering her voice. "Now!"

He recognized the serious tone immediately, and nodded. It didn't take long to lock the speeder up, and then they bolted to the house, locking the duroplast door behind them. Next went the windows, the same material sliding down to cover the openings. Kenobi had obviously done this enough to know how to barricade himself safely inside.

Once they were sure everything had been bolted shut, they sat in the darkness, listening for a few minutes before they heard the shuffling and grunting associated with the native Sand People. Then they heard clanks and bangs as the group attacked the car (and probably the house). Strange, normally they didn't like to go near any sort of civilization.

"Stupid kriffing-" Han started muttering, heading towards the door. They needed that speeder.

"Han," Leia said, her voice taking a slight warning tone at his language as she flopped down on one of the stools in the dark.

He stopped again, but she could feel his frustration. Truthfully, she empathized, half tempted to go out there and fight them all off. But then someone would get hurt, and even though it would probably be the Sand People, the thought still didn't appeal to her. She didn't have to fight.

"So what does the flimsy say?" he asked, sounding thoroughly uninterested. Probably just trying to make conversation to get his mind off of the fact that they were trapped in (for all intents and purposes) a cell, on one of the most desolate planets in the galaxy while a harsh tribe of natives either attacked or passed by.

"Don't know," she said dryly. "I can't exactly read it."

"You have been spending too much time around Jaina," he muttered. She could hear his fingers scrambling for something. "Here."

Something flew through the air at her. Even in the dark, she caught it easily; a small pen-light from the feel of it.

She pressed the button and found the flimsy fairly quickly, bringing it out of one of her pockets and opening it. Six words were written in a language she didn't know. Actually, she couldn't even define the sounds of the different (were those squiggly lines letters?) made. Despite this fact, almost as soon as she saw them, she knew these words, and their pronunciation. She could even come up with a vague meaning.

Below that, a single line caught her attention. _One regret may be rectified. Choose wisely_.

Han frowned over her shoulder. "Specific old fossil, wasn't he?"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so sarcastic. Obi-wan Kenobi was a great man."

"Now you sound like your brother."

Leia smirked up at him. "I'd say 'thank you', but I'm not sure it was a compliment."

She felt Han grin slightly. "It wasn't."

"I'll be sure to tell him that," she said playfully.

"So what does this spell-thing do?"

She raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him with a mockingly incredulous expression. "Oh, so you believe now? I see what you're thinking, Han Solo. If nothing happens then you were obviously right about this whole trip. Your comment didn't just suggest, but firmly stated that-"

He moved, and his lips on hers interrupted her speech. After a moment he stepped back, the old lopsided grin on her face. "Always was the best way to shut you up."

"Watch it, Solo," she said, stepping forward, but nothing in her movement suggested a threat. He in turn wrapped an arm around her, welcoming the close movement.

"And there's Mara coming out..."

That quickly, what promised to be a playfully romantic atmosphere fell flat on the floor. Thinking about their sister-in-law still hurt. A lot.

"You know," she said, desperately trying to keep ahold of the somewhat rare mood. "Has it ever occurred to you that I can think on my own? Perhaps I do not copy anyone else, but they copy me."

Han snorted, appreciating the try. "Yeah, right."

Leia swatted him on the arm with a sigh, turning her attention back to the flimsy. "I have no idea what this does." Something we'd like to rectify? Perhaps it shows us the means to make up for something? Some sort of force-trace to a place that could help somehow? It would definitely explain why Obi-wan wouldn't want Dark Side users to find this." It didn't feel quite right, but she couldn't see any other logical explanation. What _did_ it do? And she hadn't heard of many 'diagrams' in her training. Of course, a lot had been lost when the Emperor had tried to destroy all traces of the Jedi, but still.

Han shook his head, hands on hips as he leaned down to look more closely at the paper. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

His wife sighed. "Typical Han; rush into everything head-first, blasters blazing."

"At least it's my own thing," his grin widened.

"Alright, let me contact Luke and let him know what's going on. Maybe he'll have some ideas."

Han scoffed. "Sure. Play it safe."

She just smiled back, just a touch of sadness coming to her face. "Always."

He glanced at the flimsy again. "Do you know this language?"

"No," she replied, "but I know what it says."

"Really?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "What does it say?"

"Mikoy toh tyine ryomit tokh," Leia replied, almost without thinking.

If she had been thinking, she probably wouldn't have said the words a loud. The only warning she got was a flare in The Force, and suddenly it exploded. She gasped as it flowed through her in a way that it never had before. She heard herself repeating the words over and over again, almost like a mantra of some sort. With the rush of The Force, a part of her was swept away, and she began to lose herself.

That quickly, she was no longer a human, but a tube linking The Force to their plain of existence. She felt more connected with the entire universe than she'd ever experienced previously. She could see the entire galaxy as a whole, somehow, but she could also see every little detail on every single planet, asteroid and star in existence. She could feel the pinpricks that were sentient life in the whole galaxy inside of her, all sparkling in an array of colors she could never name as she's never been able to see them before. Her breath stole away from her with the sheer magnificence of it all. She didn't care much for the power she felt. The beauty almost stopped her heart.

She could see the flow and ebb of The Force visible around each and every life form, and for a moment, she ceased to exist. There was no Leia Organa Solo, there was only the Force; only life; only peace. She couldn't even see any hint of the simple black and white she'd always associated with The Force. Everything seemed so vibrantly colorful...so _connected. _

Oh how she longed to be apart of that connection; that utter beauty and peace so strong that nothing could ever truly shake it. She wanted it with her whole being, and she reached for it-

"LEIA! ANSWER ME! DO YOU HEAR ME? KRIFF! ANSWER ME!" The words seemed distant, but so desperate. "DON'T YOU LEAVE ME TOO!"

"Han?" she asked, vaguely wondering where that had come from. Moving her lips felt like moving lead. She couldn't see him, not conventionally anymore. She could feel him though the force, and she saw his bright signature, more than a little frayed and broken, but still firm and still working. It seemed as if the soul had been patched up time and time again. Old, well-worn, and familiar.

She stopped reaching for The Force, uncertainty beginning to well inside of her.

"Leia!" he sounded relieved. "Leia, come back."

"I...can't," she heard herself say. "Have to go..."

"Go where?"

"The Force..."

"Oh no you don't!" Vaguely she became aware of arms physically wrapping around her mortal shell. The body that held her back from the peace. "You are not going anywhere without me! Do you hear me?"

She smiled. At least she thought she smiled. Every movement felt so distant...so...

"Think about what you want to change!" she suddenly heard him shout.

Change? Why would she change anything? Why...

The sudden image of her sons came to mind. Both of them had been lost to The Force. The sudden sadness that welled inside her seemed to cry out, bringing her even further away from the peace. "No...Dark Side...no Empire..." she muttered. Looking into the force, she could see it now. She could see all of the junctions. Everything had started with the Empire. If only she could change that...change the dark side's hold on the universe. If she could somehow break the galaxy free of that...but how?

A path seemed to open before her in the force. A path through the force.

She seemed to regard it for what felt like an eternity, uncomprehending. "This way," she said finally. She would find peace, and if he did not want to be left behind, she would take him with her. "Come," she whispered, and began to float (for she did not have the body to truly walk) down the path.

"Leia?" she heard Han say, his voice still far away, almost an echo. She reached for that echo and clung to it, holding onto the human galaxy and existence through that echo.

It wasn't long before she began to feel the strain. It started to hurt, but the pain felt off-distant...as distant as that echo. She'd begun to reach her limits. The thought came to her, and it took her a while to really process that. No! She had to reach the end of the path! She had to!

Determination ground at her soul, and she pushed harder, pulling that other voice along with her. He'd grown silent. Did that mean something? She didn't know. She only knew she had to reach the end! So she would!

There! Far ahead, she could see it, feel it! The Force around her shifted, changing and churning in a way she knew she could never truly comprehend. To do so would mean to let go of the echo...let go of him, and she most certainly would NOT do that.

It began to get harder to progress, but she found herself more determined than ever to push on.

She would reach the end! She would! No more than half way there...two thirds...she could feel it calling to her, beckoning...but now the pain had come close. She couldn't see The Force around her anymore. Desperately, she lunged outward, reaching with all her might...

And then she only knew blackness.


	3. Chatper 2

_UNKNOWN_

Even in the dark it hurt. Her soul felt as if it had been torn to shreds, sewn up again, and shoved through a blender. She felt disconnected from herself, but it still hurt.

Not knowing what else to do, Leia reached for the force, only just touching it, and felt the reassurance it gave to her. The pain increased with that reassuring touch, and she flinched back from it. It seemed she'd have to allow her soul to heal without the help of the Force.

Trying not to dwell on the pain, she focused more on just relaxing while not moving, and not thinking. It didn't help a lot, but she'd take what she could get at this point.

xXx

Anakin Skywalker sat bolt upright in his bed, immediately searching the surrounding room for familiar reassurances. It always took him a moment to calm down from a nightmare.

But had it been a nightmare? He didn't feel his heart racing as quickly as it normally did. He also didn't feel any lingering sense of fear or loss that he'd come to associate with his darker dreams. He'd definitely felt something...but what? It seemed so...different, but calming in a way.

He hated feeling puzzled, and hated confusion even more.

With a groan, he flopped back onto his pillow and pulled the covers over his head in an attempt to ignore whatever had awoken him. He needed his sleep after all. He'd think on this tomorrow. After all, he was going to meet Padme again. He'd arrange it somehow. The fact that she'd come to Courscant...he'd find a way to see his old friend. If he did manage to do so, he couldn't show up tired and looking like an idiot.

If he'd been a little more aware he might have noticed that in the next room over, Obi-wan Kenobi had awoken at almost the exact moment. Instead of trying to head back to sleep, he now sat, cross-legged on his bed and began to meditate on the disturbance he'd just felt.

xXx

Darth Tyrannus knelt before the holographic form of his master, head bowed in submission.

"Why have you contacted me." Typical Sidious. Terse, direct and cold. But then, the former Count would have been surprised—as well as more than a little worried—if his master had shown anything else.

"Forgive me, master, but I wish to discuss the disturbance."

The older Sith remained silent for a few minutes. Tyrannus felt a small surge of triumph. He'd caught Sidious somewhat unawares. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to speak that aloud, nor would he allow any impatience to get the better of him. So instead, he knelt, unmoving as he awaited an answer.

"Do nothing, for now. I sense that it will come to you."

Sidious was hiding something again. A twinge of anger shot through him at the thought. Then he berated himself for expecting any differently.

"As you wish, my master."

And thankfully, the holocom call ended.

xXx

Mace Windu knocked on the door to the Council's meditation room, knowing he'd find the Grandmaster here. Technically, he didn't have to knock, but it was polite. The door opened, and he entered to see a very puzzled looking Yoda staring into the air, eyes unfocused.

"Master Yoda," he nodded and walked inside, seating himself across from the small, green form.

"Ah, Master Windu," Yoda nodded back. "Come to ask a question, have you?"

The dark-skinned Jedi almost grinned. Almost. "Surely you have felt it."

"The disturbance you speak of. Mmmm," the little bat-eared creature nodded, looking thoughtful.

"We should gather the council and speak on this, but I wanted to ask your opinion first."

"Malice this disturbance has not, but wary of it we should be."

Mace nodded, agreeing. "I could feel no ill will from it either."

"A strong disturbance, it is. Different from any we have felt before, yes?"

"I will go to the archives and research strange anomalies of the past before the council convenes," Mace said, standing up.

"Good, this is, I feel," Yoda commented quietly as the taller Jedi left. Mace paused at the door, wondering briefly if the grandmaster had been talking to himself, or to Mace. After a moment, he figured it probably didn't matter and left, closing the door behind him with the force.

xXx

Shmi Lars smiled as she took in the breath of fresh air. Stepping over the lip of the small farm, she reveled in the feeling of the clean—if dry—wind brushing over her skin. It smelled of freedom.

She'd never really cared for her home planet before, but once Cliegg had bought her debt, she couldn't help but revel in the sheer joy of being able to feel the wind when she wanted to. Of being able to watch the sunset if she desired. Of being with the one she loved and helping him raise his son.

She had no regrets.

She had a longing, and a wish, but both were overpowered with fierce pride and joy. If only she could see him now...

Movement in the distance caught her attention. She squinted against the fading light of the twin suns as they began to disappear over the horizon. Tuskan Raiders? They had been bolder lately, but that didn't seem right.

It only took a moment for her to decide to duck back down into the living area and grab a pair of binoculars. Turning them on, she didn't even wait for the electric whir that would state they were fully functional before she'd rushed back up the stairs. Stepping over the rim again, she turned back towards where she'd seen the movement before. Off towards the south east, just a blip in the distance...almost as if she felt it more than she saw it.

Zooming in, the binoculars focused on two humanoid figures. One was carrying the other. She kept the view on the pair for a moment while they analyzed the movement and signature. She didn't mind that it took a good five minutes, and that anything else in the galaxy would have probably done so instantly. When working as a slave, she'd had to make do with less.

"They're human," she finally gasped. What in the Universe were two people doing walking towards her from the Dune Sea of all places? ! And where was their transport? They had to have better luck than Anakin if they hadn't been attacked by the Sand People or Krayt Dragons or the rather large number of other things on this planet that could undoubtedly kill them.

"Owen! Owen!" She ducked back down the stairs again, calling for her step-son.

"Shmi?" he asked, coming out of his room. "What's wrong? Is Beru here?"

"Get the speeder! Someone's coming towards us from the Dune Sea, and it looks like one of them is hurt!"

He eyed her skeptically for a moment. "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if they're thieves? Or fugitives?"

She smiled at his caution. "Then bring a blaster. I know your father keeps one around here somewhere."

"But-" he started uncertainly.

"I know they might be," she said softly, "but what if they're not?"

He looked up at her for a moment, brown eyes searching her own. Then he sighed, nodded and disappeared into the refresher. "I'll get the med kit. You find the blaster."

She smiled and walked into her own room. It didn't take her long to find the weapon. Cliegg kept it under his night stand. She hated the idea of having such a violent weapon, but understood the need for it. Growing up on Tatooine tended to give people that kind of understanding.

She met Owen in the hall. Once he saw her, he nodded, turned and walked out, climbing the stairs to the garage.

"Dad's not going to be happy when he gets back from working on that evaporator," Owen commented as he started the old vehicle.

"Leave him to me," Shmi said with a wink.

He grinned and shook his head.

Ever since Shmi had come to live with them, married and a new bride for the first time in her life, she couldn't help but fall completely in love with the already existing family. Owen's mother had died from a sickness when Owen had been three. Shmi had married his father when he'd been twelve, making it a rather large adjustment for all of them, but she wouldn't trade it for the universe. She'd come to love Owen like her own son.

She hoped that one day he could meet his brother.

It didn't take them long to reach the stumbling couple. The closer they got, the more puzzled Shmi became. They looked to be an older couple, and apparently the woman had fainted (either from heat stroke or maybe they had escaped an attack from something or other). The man, looking utterly tired, and wincing in pain from every step, carried her on his back, looking determinedly at the ground a few paces ahead.

Apparently he heard the speeder's engine, because he looked up long before they'd met. Carefully, and still cringing with every movement, he shifted the woman on his back with one arm and raised a hand, waving it wildly in their direction.

They stopped a few meters away, allowing the man to approach cautiously.

"Can I get...a ride," he asked through harsh gasps. "Need shelter."

"Who are you?" Owen asked, holding up his blaster, but not pointing at them.

"Han...Solo," he replied. "This is...my wife. She needs...medical...attention. Please."

Shmi stepped out of the speeder and walked over to them, despite Owen's protest. "My name is Shmi Lars," she said as calmly as she could. "Let me see what I can do."

He immediately looked as if a great weight had been taken from his shoulders. "Thank you."

She reached out, checking for a pulse, and found one almost immediately. It was faint, but steady.

"What happened?" she asked, helping them over to the speeder.

"Not sure," he replied. "Don't remember."

She wasn't surprised. As exhausted as this guy looked, she doubted they'd make it back to the farm awake.

"We'll talk about it later," she said, making sure to keep smiling at them. It seemed to calm him down.

"Thank you," he muttered again, and slid into the back seat, next to his wife. They carefully laid her on his shoulder, allowing him to hold her as they traveled.

Shmi was right. Not two minutes later, they were both asleep.

xXx

"I do not like the idea of hiding," Padme practically growled at Anakin as she walked by, carefully folding clothes into the luggage receptacle they'd take back with them to Naboo.

Anakin, lost in his own thoughts, looked up at the sound of her voice, his face immediately relaxing while his body seemed to do just the opposite. He hid it well, but she'd been trained to read people. What was he so nervous about? It was starting to make her nervous.

"Don't worry, now that the Council has ordered an investigation, it won't take Master Obi-Wan long to find this bounty hunter," he assured her.

She couldn't help the frustration that crept into her tone. "I haven't worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act not to be here when its fate is decided!" She shoved more clothes into the luggage container.

He sounded slightly distracted when he said the following words, almost like he was just repeating something he'd heard over and over again. "Sometimes we have to let go of our pride and do what is requested of us." Truthfully, he didn't sound like he believed a word of what he said, and that struck even more of a sore chord with her.

"Pride? ! Ani, you're young, and you don't have a very firm grip on politics. I suggest you reserve your opinions for some other time." He brought himself fully out of his thoughts to look at her again.

"Sorry, M'Lady," he said, his body language placating. I was only trying to-"

"Ani, no!" she said, almost immediately reprimanding herself silently. If this were the Senate, it would be a different story, but right now she was taking her frustration out on Anakin simply because he was convenient. Still, she wanted _someone _to see her point. To see why she-

"Please don't call me that." Well, at least he sounded contrite enough, even though his words confused her.

She stood straight, looking over at him. "What?"

"'Ani'."

She blinked. He didn't want her to call him by his name? "I've always called you that...it is your name, isn't it?"

He frowned. Funny, even as a Jedi, she couldn't see him as a Jedi. He didn't fit her picture of a stoic, non-feeling, peaceful warrior at all. "It's Anakin. When you say 'Ani' it's like I'm still a little boy, and I'm not."

She felt herself relax as understanding clicked. "I'm sorry, Anakin," she said immediately, her tone once again calm and in control. "It's impossible to deny you've..." she paused looking him up and down. "...That you've grown up."

He smiled at her, and then turned to look out the window, obviously distracted. "Ani—Anakin," she said, moving around towards him, "You've been distracted all day."

"I've been alert, M'lady," he said immediately. "Anything an assassin tries will not get past me."

She found herself surprised that she already believed that. "That's not what I meant, Anakin. What's wrong? I don't remember you ever being distracted.

He watched her for a moment, and then deflated slightly. "A few nights ago, we all felt a disturbance in the Force. It's been the talk of the Temple."

She suddenly got the picture of Jedi in pink aprons gossiping to each other like housewives. The picture struck her as funny enough that she let out a slight giggle. When Anakin looked at her questioningly, she responded with a wave of her hand. "I just never imagined Jedi to be the gossiping kind."

He frowned again. "We're just like everyone else. I'm as human as you are."

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant, Ani."

He sighed.

"Anakin," she corrected, walking back to continue her packing. "So why are you distracted by this disturbance?"

"They've got a basic area of where the disturbance happened, and they want to send someone to investigate."

"Where is it?"

He didn't look at her, staring out the window again. From his posture and stance, he didn't even seem to be mentally in the room they stood in. She followed his gaze, looking out at the busy, Courscant traffic. Sometimes she wondered if being a traffic regulator was harder than just about any other job here. The sheer chaos of it made absolutely no sense to her. It did seem to have a slightly calming effect on Anakin.

"It's near the Separatist front."

She didn't like his choice of words. "Anakin, this isn't a war. Not yet. Not ever, if I have anything to say about it."

He looked over at her, and obviously saw her expression, because anything he was about to say he immediately swallowed, instead he gave a nod, conceding the point. "It's also near my home planet."

"Tatooine?" she asked, sounding surprised. His nod answered her question, and she caught on. "So you want to go home. See your mother?"

Immediately his posture changed. He looked guarded, on edge and worried. "I've been having nightmares, lately. Scary nightmares...I worry for her."

"That's horrible! But I'm sure they're just dreams..." Her assurance faded off at the look on his face.

"No. These are different."

Bringing a hand to her mouth, she looked down at the floor thoughtfully. "I've heard Jedi can sometimes have visions. Is that what this is?"

He shrugged, but she could see the frustration on his face. "I don't know."

She sighed. "Anakin, if you need to ask for a reassignment, I understand." She'd be the first to admit that she didn't like the idea of more bodyguards at all. Actually, she'd admitted it openly and adamantly. People worrying about her safety over the population of the galaxy galled her like nothing else. That wasn't why she'd become a senator. However, she'd put up with another Jedi guarding her (because Chancellor Palpatine would undoubtedly insist) if it would put Anakin's mind at ease.

However, he shook his head. "No, this is my duty. They won't let me investigate this. They'll send someone else to look into it. Besides, even if I did request it, they wouldn't listen to me." She couldn't help but feel a sting at his words. So he did see her only as a duty. She'd always appreciated his friendship from the Naboo crisis because he could see past all of that. Perhaps he'd grown up in more ways than one.

"Besides," he said softly. "I want to protect you."

She wasn't sure she was meant to hear that, he'd said it so softly. It brought warmth to her heart. So he did still see her as more than a senator, or a queen, or a handmaiden.

"Anakin, can I speak to the Jedi council?"

He blinked in surprise, head shooting around to look at her, almost as if expecting a joke. "I'm sure I could arrange it. But why?"

She just smiled. "Please arrange to do so before we leave tonight if at all possible."

"I'll contact them immediately. What should I tell them?"

Her smile widened. "Tell them the plans have changed."

xXx

The pain receded after a little while. She wasn't sure how long it had taken as she drifted in and out of consciousness, not really knowing where she was or what went on around her. Sometimes snippets of a conversation would drift to her mind, but usually she vaguely remembered something warm and welcome dripping down her throat before succumbing to the blackness again.

The first time she really remembered anything, was when someone came shouting. "They've taken her! She's gone!"

That sparked a reaction in her, and she forced her eyes open. For a moment, she reached out to the force, but the pain came instantly back when she did. It still wasn't as bad as before, but for now, she'd have to pull a Ben and cut herself off from the force if she wanted to heal. The very concept felt strange to her, but it also felt right.

No one was in the small, dark room. A small light shone brightly from a make-shift bed-stand made out of crates. Various parts and food stuffs littered the corners of the room around her. She herself had been laid on what appeared to be a bed made out of crates and blankets. Taking a breath, she stretched, wincing as her back popped in several places. Lying on that thing hadn't helped.

Ignoring, with some difficulty, the vertigo that assaulted her, she managed to push the light blanked on top of her off and to the side. Somehow she made it to the door, and palmed the release.

Immediately, light flooded into the room, and she winced back from it with a small cry.

"If they haven't taken her far, I can find her," she heard Han say.

"We're getting a group of our neighbors together," another man's deep voice spoke out. "Wait for them. Going up against the Tuskins alone is suicide!"

"I've made it through worse," she smiled, easily picturing the smug look on her husband's face. Willing her head to stop spinning, she stepped into the hall, and had to catch herself on the wall. Its rough surface reminded her of stone, which, she reminded herself, it probably was, given the natural resources available on the planet.

That's right, they were on Tatooine. Her head felt fuzzy, and she found it difficult to recall the details. She made to stumble down the hall, but her feet didn't seem to want to move. Instinctively, she reached out to the force, and immediately regretted it, hissing in pain as she fell forward, landing on the ground.

"Owen?" the second deep voice spoke out, "has someone arrived already?" A large man rounded the corner, dressed in the light, loose clothing fairly common to the farmers here on Tatooine. He had short, dark hair and seemed to be her age, give or take a few standard years.

"Oh?" He looked surprised when he saw her sprawled helplessly on the floor. "You shouldn't be up."

"Han..." she muttered.

"Leia!" she immediately relaxed when she heard him enter the hall behind the larger man. Ducking around him (no small feat in the narrow room), he dashed to her side, turning her over to look at him. "Don't walk around, you'll hurt yourself more!"

"What...happened?" she asked.

He paused, looking up at the taller man. "I'm sorry, Cliegg. Let me put her back to bed, and I'll be right out."

The other man nodded in understanding, and Leia felt Han lift her into his arms, carrying her back into the dark, little room.

"What happened?" she repeated, surprisingly grateful as he set her down on the crate-bed.

"Shh, we'll talk later. Right now, I have to go and do a favor for our hosts. I'll be back soon."

The way he said it...somehow she knew something had gone very wrong. "Han," she said, grabbing his shirt before he could leave. "Be careful."

"Hey," he grinned. Even in the dark, she could tell. "It's me."

"No," she said, more quietly, "be careful."

He paused for a moment before nodding slowly. "Alright, I'll do it your way. Quiet and sneaky-like."

She relaxed again, already feeling sleep overcome her. "Good," she murmured. "Love you."

"I know," he leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. "I love you too."

She smiled sleepily. "I know."

xXx

"Master, she insisted," Anakin said, sounding put out himself. "I don't know why. She just said the plans have changed, and won't tell me anything else!"

"Anakin, they will not be pleased. I doubt they will acquiesce at all."

Anakin sighed, sounding frustrated. It was the little emotions like that bursting out that really worried Obi-wan. This was why he felt his padawan wasn't ready yet.

"She did insist, master," Anakin said again. Obi-wan let out a sigh himself. Perhaps he'd been spending too much time around Anakin after all. Maybe this time apart would be good for them.

"Very well, Anakin, I will ask the council to meet with her, but no promises."

"Thank you, Master." Funny, he didn't sound thankful at all.

xXx

Padme had been through her share of embarrassing, painful and intimidating experiences, but standing before a rather displeased-looking Jedi council almost took the cake. She'd have to think rather hard to come up with a time that outdid this really. Funny, standing in front of the Senate and thousands of people representing hundreds of planets couldn't faze her. Standing in front of a handful of the most powerful and respected beings in the universe? Now was a different story.

She bowed slightly, tipping her head and keeping her hands firmly by her side. "Thank you, Masters of the Jedi, for allowing me to speak with you today."

"Curious, we are for your reason," Yoda spoke up. She also found it rather funny that of all the Jedi, this small, green creature could be far more intimidating than the rest of the council combined.

"I've given this a great deal of thought, and I do not feel returning to my home planet is a wise idea. It is the first place an assassin will look if they discover our Dorme's true identity. As such, I request permission for Padawan Skywalker and I to go to a different planet."

"Why have you brought this before us?" Master Windu asked, looking slightly confused and more than a little put out.

Padme felt twinge of resentment at this. Didn't Jedi get their orders through the council?

"Padawan Skywalker felt that he could not act against the council's wishes. Therefore I concluded that asking this of the council would be the correct steps." Behind her, she heard Anakin shift. Whether because of embarrassment or annoyance, she couldn't tell. She hoped neither.

"A new destination you wish to choose, hmm?" Yoda asked, now seeming far less intimidating for some reason. He seemed pleased in her answer.

Here came the hard part. "Truthfully, Masters, if I had my way, I would go under cover and gather information on the Separatists. However, because I know this is not possible, I would be willing to discuss different options. My feelings were that somewhere on the outer rim would be the best place to hide."

Several members shifted. "The outer rim is dangerous," Master Windu pointed out. "There is little we could do to help you if something happened."

"That is why I have a bodyguard with me, is it not?" she countered smoothly. "I have utmost faith on Padawan Skywalker's capabilities."

"Nevertheless," the bald Jedi shook his head, "this does not seem to be a well thought-out plan." She clenched her fists. In other words, she'd thrown a wrench into their perfectly flawless operation. She could see why Anakin seemed to resent these men and women.

"I assure you it is," she said. "We will leave for Naboo, as planned, and immediately head for a currently unspecified planet so as to throw any attackers off of our trail. I have already spoken with Captain Typho about the arrangement. He agrees that it will add extra protection, and is already in the process of finding suitable planets and outposts should you agree. He will have the information available to you and Master Obi-wan as soon as a decision is made."

The council members looked at each other, and Padme couldn't help but feel she'd missed a conversation.

"Agree with you the council does, if keep you safe this plan will," Yoda said finally. Permission to travel to another planet, Padawan Skywalker has."

Padme couldn't help but feel a measure of triumph. She'd stood down the Jedi Council and won. Her teachers would be ecstatic.

"On the condition," Master Windu spoke up. "We want your word that you will stay away from the Separatist front."

She wanted to correct them. If everyone thought of this as a war, then it would be in no time. However, at the moment, winning this battle would put the outcome of her own personal war in jeopardy. She'd gotten permission for Anakin to investigate his Mother (although not in so many words), and prolonging this with petty arguments could cost her that.

So she bowed. "Very well, Master Jedi. I thank you for your consideration."

She turned her back on them and walked out, back straight. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Obi-wan and Anakin doing the same.

As soon as the Council Room doors closed, Anakin stepped in front of her, frown back in place. "Why didn't you discuss this with me before?"

Padme glanced over at Obi-wan momentarily before returning her eyes to Anakin. He seemed just as curious, and almost as put-out.

"I didn't want to discuss something with you when it couldn't happen otherwise. I will not make you go against your council's wishes. That is all."

Was that a pout on his face? She almost found herself rolling her eyes. "You should have told me."

She paused for a moment and sighed. "You're right. I should have."

"Senator," Obi-wan spoke up. "We cannot protect you if you hold anything back. We are not your enemy, nor are we politicians you need to keep information from. We are your bodyguards, and your friends."

Ouch. Well he could be a politician.

"Your words warm my heart, Master Obi-wan," she said, allowing a real smile to show through. "You have my word that it will not happen again."

He nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Very well then, let us see you off to Naboo."


	4. Chapter 3

_Previously: Leia's dreams/visions lead her back to Obi-wan's hut on Tatooine. In a sort of trance, she finds a box left for her by Obi-wan that had been hidden a good deal away from the hut. She and Han bring it back to Obi-wan's old home, accidentally activating something that Obi-wan had put in place-something that sent them unknowingly back in time to just before the Clone Wars started. While Leia recovers from the rather harrowing experience, Han goes off to rescue their host's wife, one Shmi Lars, recently kidnapped while at the same time Padme and Anakin embark on a trip meant to throw off pursuers-one that will have them jumping randomly around the universe-instead of heading off to Naboo as was originally planned. _

_22 BBY_

Padme watched the little astromech droid come winding through the crowds of immigrants, food ready and waiting for them. She felt a surge of thankfulness that this little robot had been the one of the three dispatched all those years ago that had survived the blockade. Captain Typho had always been rather leery of her attachment to the little droid.

A noise from Anakin caused her to turn her head. She'd insisted that he get some sleep, doubting that he'd gotten more than a few hours in the last few days. Now she'd begun to regret that decision. He did not look restful at all.

"No, no...Mom, no..." he muttered. She noticed a sheen on his forehead and immediately felt concern.

Unable to see her friend in such a condition anymore, she reached over and put a hand on his arm. He sat up, awake in an instant as blue eyes swept around, trying to find the threat. It only took a moment for him to remember anything. Then his eyes rested on her and he relaxed.

"What?"

"You seemed to be having a nightmare," she commented. "About your mother."

Understanding came to his eyes and he sat back with a thump. She handed him a bowl of mush and some bread from R2.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah," he muttered noncommittally. He stood up and came to sit at their make-shift table as she set the bowl before him. "Thanks."

They both started to eat, him far more vigorously than her. She smiled. It seemed some things didn't change, Jedi or not.

"We'll see her soon, Ani."

"Anakin," he corrected her, scowling, but his expression seemed good natured—grateful even—for her words.

"It's too bad," he said suddenly, looking over at her. "I've been looking forward to seeing Naboo again. I've thought about it every day since I left. It's by far the most beautiful place I've ever seen..."

She shifted, a unnerved by his intense stare. "Don't look at me like that," she muttered, looking away herself.

"Why not?" he asked.

She couldn't tell if he was joking, teasing or if he really meant it.

"It makes me uncomfortable," she snapped. He backed off, looking back down at his food and picking at it. She sighed inwardly. She hadn't meant to snap at him. "Time changes our perception of things. I hope it's as beautiful as you remember."

He looked up again. "What?"

"Naboo," she responded.

"It will be," he said, smile returning to his lips.

"Things change, Ani," she muttered.

"Anakin," he corrected immediately.

She grinned. "You've changed, Anakin. A lot. But not too much. I'm glad."

He seemed surprised, and pleased. "You're glad that I've changed, or that I haven't?"

She laughed. "Both, actually. You always saw me for who I was, Anakin. Everyone else looks at me and they see a former queen, or a senator. They see my status. You never cared much for that. Your friendship isn't something I take lightly."

"You haven't changed a bit," he informed her, the smile spreading to a fond grin. "You're exactly the way I remember you. That's why I can't believe Naboo has changed much either."

"It hasn't," she acquiesced easily, shaking her head at his childish logic.

"You know, that's what I always appreciated about you too," he said softly after a moment. "You never saw me as a slave, from the moment you walked into that shop. I'd gotten used to people addressing me as if I were a droid, or they'd ignore me. That's if I was lucky. Watto didn't beat me often, but some of my former masters did.

"When you're a slave, you have nothing. No one but those around you who are also slaves."

"That's why you're worried about your mother, isn't it," she said it as a statement, more than sure of her words.

Anakin nodded. "I haven't been able to go back and free her like I promised. The Jedi won't let me, yet."

Padme smiled sadly, sitting forward and leaning on her elbows. "That's politics, An—Anakin. The Jedi can't go around releasing every slave because that would cause too much unrest from those who used to own them. It's a horrible, dirty practice, but if they don't have jurisdiction, it can cause more problems than solutions."

"How?" Anakin asked, his voice raising slightly. "How can saving millions of people from a life of slavery be bad?"

Padme glanced around, but no one seemed to be noticing them. "And where would they go once they are freed?" she asked. "Planets can only take so many refugees. And how would they be transported? Who would supply the ships? If they stayed once they were freed, what's to stop them from being enslaved again? The Republic doesn't have the resources to keep that from happening. All such an act would do would be to cause unrest and more systems to join with the Separatists."

"So you're saying keeping people in the Republic happy is better than freeing people in bondage?" He asked, his voice edgy.

She sighed. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's just not that easy. You're a Jedi. You know that sometimes battles cannot be won with strength alone, don't you?"

He paused, considering her words. "Yes, but it's still wrong."

She nodded. "A lot of things are, Ani. Those are the kinds of things I want to fix. As a Senator, that's my job."

For several moments, he just stared at her. It wasn't the intense, longing look from before. This time, he seemed to see her in a different light, and his gaze held a lot more respect.

"You're amazing, Padme."

She raised an eyebrow. "So informal now?"

He only grinned. "If you insist on calling me 'Ani', then I insist on calling you Padme."

She blinked, wondering just when he'd managed to turn the situation around on her.

xXx

Han had seen Tuskan Raiders before. He'd heard Luke talk about them enough that he figured he could write a book on the subject. When he'd first met the kid, anytime someone Luke had no liking for was mentioned, he'd respond by calling them either a Hutt or a Tuskan Raider. That hadn't happened in a while. He'd also done research before actually heading to Tatooine the first time. No one ventured out into the deserts unless they had a lot of weapons on them and an escort, or a death wish.

Thing is, the Sand People usually didn't kill their captives. They didn't even mean to torture them, according to some of the information Han had come up with. They, like every other race in the universe, lived off of water. The substance was...difficult to come by on Tatooine, and most major sources had settlements around them. The Sand People were afraid of the newcomers, and had always been hostile towards them. Superstition or some such nonsense. Very few Tuskan Raiders ever came into modern society, not that modern society cared.

So when Tuscan Raiders took prisoners, it was usually because they needed water. They had methods (and that's where Han had stopped reading) to withdraw tiny amounts of water from a person's body. It would be enough to keep the caravan going for days. Sometimes weeks. Even after the person died, they could find ways to extract water from the body. As such, the only bodies ever found from Tuskan Raiders tended to be dried-up husks, barely recognizable.

Han did not want that happening to Shmi. She'd been the one to persuade her husband to let Han and Leia stay while the senator-turned-jedi recovered from whatever the heck she'd done to herself. He still wasn't sure what was going on and they needed the shelter.

After whatever had happened had...well, happened, he'd been in so much pain, he could barely open his eyes. When he finally could, he'd found himself and Leia laying on the ground inside the Fossil's dilapidated hut. He'd had no idea what day it was (his com, that usually showed him the time according to local satellites had been screwed up somehow, showing a random, weird date and time), or how long they'd been out. Leia wouldn't wake up.

That's when he'd decided to leave. Unfortunately, it seemed the Raiders had found a way to take their speeder. After another day of trying to decide what to do without access to more rations, he'd decided to try and get her to the nearest shelter he could find away from the Sand People. He had figured he needed to find a land speeder and get them to town and medical treatment as soon as possible.

That's when Shmi and Owen had dropped out of the sky like a Godsend. They'd taken Han and Leia in, given what medical treatment they could, and promised a ride into town when they could do so safely. Of course, that had meant persuading Cliegg. However, due in no small part to Shmi's persuasions, he'd eventually given in and let them stay for a day or two.

And that's when Shmi had been taken. They'd only found out later that morning, and Han knew the trail would be getting cold if they didn't leave immediately. It had taken far too long for Han to convince Cliegg to let him go, as it was Cliegg's duty to lead the posse.

As a final compromise, Owen had decided to accompany Han and go on ahead. The posse would back them up when they could.

That had been two days ago.

"Kriff, these things move fast," Han muttered to the youth accompanying him. Owen just rolled his eyes. He'd long since grown used to Han's mutterings. Han vaguely wondered when he'd become a mutterer.

Raising a pair of binoculars to his eyes, he peeked up over the edge of their current shelter, yet another giant rock formation surrounded by sand. "They've set up camp for the night already."

"Watch for patrols. We'll sneak in. No blasting."

"You sound disappointed," Owen looked away from the binoculars, raising an eyebrow in Han's direction.

Han almost harrumphed. "I am. Always did prefer a straight fight."

"Shmi's safety is more important," Owen commented.

"I know," Han muttered. "C'mon. Let's see if we can get closer."

xXx

They managed to avoid most of the patrols. The Sand People used enough scavenged modern technology that sneaking in under the cover of darkness tended to be a gamble. If they came across the wrong patrolman (the kind that had infrared or heat-seeking scanners), the show was over.

They'd either been lucky so far, or these particular raiders didn't have any of that technology. Actually, their good luck had Han's nerves on edge. He'd gotten too used to everything hitting the fan by this point.

"Okay," he whispered to Owen as they hunkered down behind some strange sand-stone just above nearest the edge of tents, "how do we find out which one she's being held in?"

"Without rushing in and blasting everything?" Owen asked, grim smile on his face. "No idea. And once we do, how do we get her out of here?"

Han pondered that question for a moment. Sneaking out was likely to be harder than sneaking in, especially with them carrying what promised to be an exhausted woman. She might be well enough to walk with them, but he didn't want to count on that just yet.

"Does that thing have heat sensing capabilities?" Han asked.

Owen looked down at the binoculars hanging around his neck. "I think so, why?"

"Are they strong enough to scan through the tents?"

"I don't know," the youth gave him a dry look. "Heat sensing doesn't often come in useful here," he gestured around to the dry surroundings.

"Let's find out then," Han said, sounding as if it should be obvious. Owen rolled his eyes again and began playing with the adjustments while Han took the moment to scan their surroundings. Rocks to their back and front, it would be difficult to spot or shoot into this place without walking directly into it. The Tuskans probably picked this area because it would be easily defended.

"Got it," Owen whispered, and put the lenses back to his eyes. "Um...It's a little fuzzy, but I can see into the tents. I can also see the patrols on the other side...wow."

Han resisted rolling his eyes. Seriously, kids.

That's when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't move, kid," he muttered. A Tuskan Raider patrol man had circled around, and was walking by the rock formation. Fortunately, Owen knew when to follow directions and instead of ducking down or even turning his head, he did as he was told and froze. Han watched the raider sneak by, thankful now for his and Owen's sand-colored cloaks.

He held his breath until the patrol had passed out of sight, then tapped Owen on the shoulder to indicate that it was safe again.

"That was close," the kid muttered.

Han couldn't help a smile. "Not close enough," he said. "We're still here."

"Don't jinx it."

"Have to," Han shrugged. "It's my job."

"You're a jerk."

"Thanks."

Owen shot him a glare out of the side of his eye before turning back to continue scanning the tents. "It could be any one of these," he said. "Most of the tents have people laying down, a few have them up...I can't see all the tents from here. We'll have to move...what are we looking for?"

"Anything out of the ordinary," Han muttered. "Guards at the tent—one or two men standing in front of the tent—someone sleeping alone, someone sitting up not moving, like they're tied up...just anything out of -"

"Someone strung up and hanging in the middle of a tent?" Owen asked.

Han paused, blinking at the kid. "Yeah, where?"

"Over there," Owen pointed. "Third tent from the right...about five away."

"Across the entire camp, of course," Han muttered.

"At least we know where she is."

"Yeah. Come on, _quiet-like_." With that, he slipped over the edge of the rock and down into the camp, Owen following behind.

The camp itself was surprisingly empty. The few times they did see anyone, it was usually some guard standing outside one of the larger tents, either guarding a family, or one of the leaders if Han could venture a guess. One also stood outside their directed tent. To avoid him, they had to go around three others, and two more to avoid a second guard.

Once they finally came in behind the tent, Han took out a viroblade and began to cut the bantha leather. It didn't take long to make an incision large enough for them to slip through.

Han let out a breath as he saw Shmi strapped to a frame made of bantha bones, sleeping. She looked tired, but with the exception of a few incisions on her arms and one or two on her face, she didn't seem the worse for ware.

"You catch her," he whispered to Owen, holding up the viroblade to indicate that he'd cut her loose. "Wake her up first. Make sure you have a hand over her mouth. No noise."

Owen nodded and moved forward, placing a hand over her mouth. Immediately her eyes flew open, and she looked fearfully around. Then she seemed to take in the sight before her, and those gray-blue eyes immediately lit up. The kid held a finger up to his lips. She nodded, and he took his hand down, away from her mouth.

"Owen?" she asked, whispering. Her voice sounded raw and dry. "Is it really you?"

"Quiet-like," Han reminded them with a soft growl as he knelt down behind her, cutting her ankles loose first. "Can you walk?"

"Han?" she asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, can you?"

She nodded. He reached up and cut the straps holding her hands. She dropped the few inches to the ground and nearly collapsed. Owen caught her easily.

"I thought you said you could walk," her step-son hissed.

"Give me a minute," she said.

"We don't have a minute," Han muttered. "We gotta go...now. Can you?"

Again, she nodded, looking a little steadier on her feet.

"Okay, I go first, then you, then Owen, got it?" They both nodded, and he turned back to the tent flap, glancing outside. They had a few hours until first dawn. If they were lucky, their escape wouldn't be discovered until then.

He found it interesting that when he wasn't hanging around with a Skywalker, his luck seemed to be much better. He pushed the amusing thought to the back of his mind and peeked out just a little further. No one in sight.

"Okay," he whispered behind them, and stepped out. Shmi followed, and then Owen. Once all three of them stood (shakily in Shmi's case) outside the tent, they began their trek back the way they came. It was long, and slow, and Han could feel Owen practically bouncing around behind them, wanting to just get out of there. Han knew better. He hadn't lived through three different inter-galactic wars for nothing.

Once they reached the edge of the camp, Han motioned for them to wait while he scouted ahead. Peering up over the edge of the sandstone, he saw a patrol disappear into the distance. Seriously, this luck thing really had him on edge. Something had to go wrong, right? He hoped not, but his cynical side refused to believe anything else.

"Come on," he whispered, glancing behind them. No one had noticed. He'd take what he could get. Between the two of them, they managed to get the weakened Shmi over the edge and sat huddled while Han told them the plan.

"We wait for the next patrol," he said. "Hide here, and don't move. Once they're gone, we make a break for it. Owen, you lead. Help Shmi. I'll guard the rear. We'll move in short distances. Look for rocks to hide behind, indents, caves, whatever. That'll be our target, and then we'll regroup and figure out the next one after that, got it?"

Again, the other two nodded.

"Good, got our next place in sight?" Han asked Owen. Owen shook his head, and turned to study the landscape.

"Okay, yeah," he said finally.

"Good, now we wait for the next patrol."

xXx

Jedi Knight Tap-Nar-Pal exited hyper-space above the mist-covered world of Ando and immediately commed for permission to land. The Jedi Council had been very specific about the planets he was to search for the disturbance that had made its presence known four standard days prior. Truthfully, they had no idea what he was even supposed to be searching for. If it could be felt through The Force, than supposedly it would be a life-form, but it could be just about anything.

Unfortunately, the presence of said disturbance had died down almost immediately, so pinpointing the exact location had been...difficult. And naturally it had been near the Separatist Front, as the Council had so recently taken to calling it. It wasn't a war yet, but in most of the Jedi opinion, it was only a matter of time.

This disturbance could be anything from a natural anomaly (doubtful, but possible) to a new weapon either discovered or created by the Separatists and Dooku (far more likely). It could also be something else all together.

Yes, nicely trimmed down for him. Now all he had to do was search a rather large handful of planets (half of which were considering joining the Separatists) for something no one had any idea about.

He sighed, knowing he had his work cut out for him. Sometimes he wondered if he'd just gotten on the Council's bad-side with missions like these.

xXx

The first sun rose over the horizon, chasing away the chill of the desert night. That wasn't so bad. Never was. No, it was the second sun that always drove the temperature of the atmosphere to new heights every day. That's what it felt like in any case, and now they were stuck out in it. Again.

Han wouldn't let them stop, though. Too much of a chance the stupid bantha-riding Raiders would catch up with them. He hoped they ran into the posse lead by Cliegg soon. They'd used Cliegg's land-speeder to track the raiders instead of Owen's speeder bike, as they'd hoped to bring home more passengers than they took out, and the bike only really had room for two, so they suspected they'd meet Cliegg with several other vehicles.

By the time noon rolled around, they couldn't stay out in the sunlight anymore. Han suspected he'd already obtained a rather nice sunburn. Owen and Shmi were probably dying under their cloaks (Han had insisted on giving his to Shmi).

So they found a rocky area with a fair amount of shade, double checked to make sure nothing would attack, eat, or sting them, and let Owen take the first watch while Shmi rolled up in her cloak, and Han found a blanket to lay on.

He felt as if he'd only been resting for seconds when Owen's hand shook him awake. It took him a minute to realize that at least one sun had set, and the other was on its way.

"Kid, how long did you let me sleep?" he asked, then noted the worried look in his eyes.

"Banthas! In the distance!"

Han swore under his breath. "Why didn't you wake us up?!"

"I...kind of fell asleep."

Han sighed. Of course. "Let's get out of here."

"Can't," he said. "They've already been shooting at the speeder. Almost hit me."

"Fabulous," he muttered. "Kid, how good of a shot are you?"

Owen eyed him warily. "Pretty good..."

"How good?"

"I can hit a target at 100 meters."

Han raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty good. Prove it." With that, he thrust his blaster into the kid's hand.

"Wait, what?!" Owen asked. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving our lives," Han muttered, grabbing the container that held the last of their water.

"That's all the water we have!"

"It's this or us, kid," Han growled at him. Owen backed off, but didn't look happy about it. "Wake Shmi up and get in a position you can shoot." Owen nodded and knelt by Shmi, shaking her shoulders. After he'd explained the situation and instructed her to hide behind some nearby boulders, he climbed up on top of an outcropping, hiding behind a rock and putting his blaster out.

"Okay, ready," he said.

Han waved a hand distractedly to let Owen know he'd heard, but kept his attention on the large figures he saw in the not too distant sand. Several banthas, each with a minimum of one Tuskan Raider. "Shoot, but _don't hit anything_!"

Owen looked down at him incredulously. "What?!"

"Just do it, kid. Hit the sand in front of them. Make 'em stop."

Blinking, Owen turned back to the blaster and let out a single shot. Han had to admit, he was impressed with the kid's aim. The Sand People did exactly as he'd expected, stopping and backing up, shouting and yelling in their strange, guttural language. That's when Han stepped out, hands up in a placating manner.

The Tuskans paused in their ravings and raised their own weapons.

"Shoot again, kid. Same spot."

Another blaster bolt hit the sand directly in front of them. They got the hint, lowering their weapons. Han bet Owen could take most of the thirty or so Tuskans out before they got to the shade, but the numbers didn't look so good.

"Okay," he said walking forward slowly, "here's the deal. You leave us alone, and you get all this water. Got it?" They didn't of course. Another reason why they had difficulty in modern society is because they didn't have the vocal chords to reproduce basic, making it that much harder to actually talk and trade with.

When he'd reached about half-way between the Raiders and their shelter, he figured he'd better let them know what was going on. Stopping and standing firmly, he carefully reached over to the large container, and pushed the release button. Then he took a short swig of water. The Raiders shifted, realizing what was in the container now. Being desert people, water held more sway than just about anything else to them. Han was counting on it.

Carefully, he set the container down and began to back away.

"Don't shoot if they come closer, kid," he yelled over his shoulder.

He continued to back away. Again, they got the hint. Three of them slid down from the backs of the Banthas and approached cautiously. Han had almost reached the shade of the rocks when they picked up the container and sloshed it around. Then, looking rather excited, they rushed back.

"Okay, now shoot in front of them again." The kid had some decent skill. He hadn't hit the exact same place each time, but it was close.

The Tuskans looked at each other, shouting and discussing something between them. They made the right decision. It took them a little while to turn their banthas around, but they finally succeeded in doing so, heading back the way they'd come from.

The one leading the group glanced over his shoulder at Han and nodded.

As soon as they were out of shooting range, Han had Owen and Shmi in the speeder, and they took off. They didn't stop for the rest of the night.

xXx

Beru, the teen-aged girl who had taken care of Leia for the last few days, came rushing into the living room. Leia looked up from the holo-novel she'd been reading.

"They're back," she breathed.

Leia immediately made to get up, and found Beru at her side. "Thank you," she said.

"You still shouldn't be walking," Beru commented, shrugging as if it were normal to help someone like that.

They made painstakingly slow progress, but eventually, they got up to the lip of the homestead just in time to see Han, Shmi and Owen jump out of the speeder. Cleigg was already there, as were several other men in speeders.

Some of them shouted and cheered, others sang loudly, calling for a celebration. Han just walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same, reveling in his warmth despite the heat of the day.

"Thank you," Cliegg commented, walking up with an arm around Shmi. "Thank you for bringing her back to me."

"Hey, thank your son," Han shrugged.

Cliegg grinned and shook his head. "I did, and I will again. But it wouldn't have happened without you. Thank you."

"Thank you for coming after me," Shmi added softly.

"Now let's get you all some water," Cliegg said. "Then we'll serve drinks in celebration!" he yelled a loud to the group of men behind him. A cheer rose up among them and everyone turned to file down to the courtyard.

Han and Leia lingered behind, Han thankfully taking it slowly. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Better," she said.

"What happened back then?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I just remember suddenly...being almost completely one with The Force."

Han sighed. "Don't start spouting Jedi mumbo-jumbo on me again."

"Han, I'm serious. I've never felt that before. I don't know if 'feeling' is the right word for it. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe it. I just...needed to go somewhere, but I couldn't leave you, so I tried to bring you with me..."

"But we didn't go anywhere," Han muttered. "We're still on Tatooine."

"I tried to comm Luke," Leia muttered. "I couldn't find his com signal though. Han...I can't feel him anywhere. I'm worried."

"Eh, once we get off this rock we'll be able to find him."

"I don't think so, Han," she said. "Have you checked the date on your com?"

"Yeah, but it got screwed up in the...whatever it was you did."

She sighed. "What does it say?"

He shrugged and took the com out. "It says 987.5 (13.5 GRS), day 12, 18:58 Galactic standard time. See, screwed up."

"I...don't think it is, Han," she said with a gulp.

He paused, wondering just how messed up her own brain had to be if she thought that was right. "How can it be 987 ABY?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I think it's 987 After the Russian Reformation."

He stopped, coincidentally causing her to stop with him. "Leia, that would be...more than 50 years in the past. It'd be what, 20 BBY?"

"No," she said again, shaking her head. "It would make it 22 BBY. Han, I think the Clone War will start later this month. I think somehow Obi-wan sent us back in time."

xXx

_Author's Note: I am SO sorry! I thought I had more posted on this! *smacks head* Well, I plan on posting more very soon here. If you're one of my amazing and awesome followers, you may want to go back and reread the first two chapters and prologue. I will endeavor to not go so long between posts this time and again, you have my apologies!_


	5. Chapter 4

Han stared at his wife with an expression that broadcasted something along the lines of, 'You've grown two heads, and one of them belongs to ton-ton.'

"Leia, I've seen you, Luke and the kids do some pretty incredible things, but time-travel?" He shook his head and began to walk slowly back to the homestead again. "It doesn't make any sense!" Well, at least he wasn't spouting his recent stint of "The Force doesn't exist" poodoo. Thank goodness he saw how serious her suggestion was, and had skipped the inside jokes.

"Why not?" she asked. Truthfully she'd come up with several reasons on her own, but she wanted to see what her husband thought. He turned a dry look on her.

"First of all, have you ever heard of anything like that happening?"

She conceded the point with a nod. "No, but how many records were destroyed in the Purge? We still don't know a fraction of what even the Old Republic Jedi knew, let alone anything that's happened before that."

"Leia, I can't...can you imagine the power requirement?"

It was her turn to send him a dry look as they began to slowly descend the stairs. "Judging by the state of my body right now, and how much of The Force I tapped into, yes, I think I do."

He raised an eyebrow. "That one sounded like me."

A small grin hinted on her lips. "Well, you are my husband."

"Oh, is that what that file marked 'marriage certificate' meant."

She chuckled. "Something like that."

He sobered up all too quickly. "Okay, so why send us into the past? Why not go himself?"

That was one of many questions she couldn't answer. "I don't know, Han. Knowing him, he'd have a good reason."

"And why not send Luke? Isn't he the Jedi Master? Why all of that just for you?"

She'd actually contemplated that one. "It was his backup plan."

"Backup for what?"

"In case he died before teaching Luke, and Luke joined Vader. He would have somehow thought I would be the only one who could do anything."

He shook his head. "Then why did you get those dreams now?"

She sighed. "I don't know that one either, Han. It's just...I can't think of any other explanation, except for a series of very convenient coincidences."

"And you don't believe in coincidences."

"Haven't for a long time," she said softly.

He sighed as they finally attained the courtyard and made their way past the yelling, shouting and obvious drinking from the reception area. "Yeah," he muttered, barely audible over the din. "Me neither."

"What," she asked with mock surprise, "You're not going to spout something about Jedi mumbo-jumbo on me?"

"What kinds of coincidences?" he asked.

She blinked, a bit taken back by his manner. "Well, first is the fact that I can't reach Luke, nor can I feel him."

"What's that got to do with anything? He's been unreachable before."

"Han, I can always feel him, just like Jaina could always..." she faded off.

"That Sith Witch cut through their bond," Han pointed out, probably with a little more menace than really necessary. Leia couldn't say she blamed him.

"We have no idea how Vergere," she almost spit the name herself, "did that, but I would have felt it. An abrupt cut off, a flair in The Force, _something_. But I don't feel anything."

"You were unconscious for how long?"

"I would have felt it, Han," she said firmly.

He shrugged, and they finally approached their "room". He palmed the door open, kicking aside some of the empty containers that had fallen in the way as they always did. There wasn't a whole lot of space inside a nearly full storage room.

"And why is his com off?" she asked.

"If he's been cut off from you, then he's probably in a situation where his com isn't working...if it's still in one piece."

"What about Jaina?" she asked. "I can't reach her either. Or Amelia. Or Ben. Or Saba. Or Wedge. Or Lando. Heck, I even tried Kyp."

Han was silent for several seconds. "Convenient coincidences," he muttered as he helped her sit gently on her make-shift bed, then stood for several seconds looking troubled before retreating to the other side of the room and sitting on his own. Leia fell back on the pillow with a grateful sigh. Hard and uncomfortable as their new accommodations were, they were accommodations, and she felt immensely relieved to have them.

Suddenly, she realized just how weary her little trip up to greet Han had left her.

"Let's finish this tomorrow," she said, trying to stifle a yawn. "I think I'm about done for the night."

"I'll second that, Princess."

She could already feel sleep overcoming her as she pulled the covers onto her shoulders.

"Han," she muttered just before she blacked out. He hummed, letting her know he'd heard. "Thank you for coming back."

She heard him pause. He was probably dressing for bed.

"I'll always come back for you, Leia," he whispered.

She felt particularly secure in her sleep that night.

xXx

"We've just left Naboo, captain," Padme said to the transmitter. "Either Jedi Skywalker or I will check in as soon as we can establish a secure channel once we reach our destination. Amidala out."

That felt kind of strange to say. It made her sound more like a soldier than a senator. She hated it.

Sighing, she hit the hyper-space initiator, and watched as the stars blurred together, then went back to check on Anakin. Once they'd landed, Queen Jamillia had greeted them, and then immediately gotten them on one of her private ships once they'd told her the updated plan. Padme had only gotten to spend one night with her family.

It saddened her, but she really wanted to get Anakin to Tatooine and maybe stop those nightmares once he saw his mother safe and sound.

Well, that's what she wanted to happen.

Anakin needed this, she could see, and she would never turn her back on someone who needed her. Funny, she felt more like she was guarding him than visa versa. Not that she'd ever tell him. He'd probably deny trying to go to Tatooine at all. Him and his silly Jedi pride (that he would probably deny too, at least openly).

When they'd landed on Naboo, he'd decided to pull another all-nighter, just in case. He'd said he'd been trained to not become susceptible to the effects of a lack of sleep, but once they'd boarded the ship and he'd set the course, she'd insisted that he go and try to rest. He'd resisted, of course, but after a slight argument, he finally gave in to her logic.

Opening the door to the living area of the ship, she noted his door had not been closed. He probably wasn't even trying to...

She paused in her thought as she approached the opening, and realized that Anakin hadn't even bothered to change clothes before he'd laid down. She could tell from his breathing that he had indeed fallen asleep, his back rising and falling in an even pattern.

This would have to be the most restful she'd ever seen him when asleep (which admittedly amounted to all of three instances, if she counted their trip when they'd first freed him).

Smiling, she leaned against the door and watched his peaceful slumber for a few moments before turning to the holo-pads she'd brought with her. Even if she couldn't be in the senate, that didn't mean she couldn't be doing any work.

She left the door open so as to keep an eye on him, wanting to be able to wake him if those nightmares came back.

They never did.

xXx

Leia stared at the portable holo-feed she held in her hand. Her eyes dully rested somewhere past the woman's bust now on the screen, and she'd long since stopped hearing the report as her mind tried to digest the information she'd just received.

She had proof now, not just suspicions. Unless someone really wanted to screw with their minds and try to publish a holo that claimed to be part of the Galactic Republic.

Somehow, Obi-wan had really and truly sent them back in time.

Vaguely, she wondered just how she would convince Han of this. The stubborn nerf-herder.

"That's a picture of Owen just after Cleigg and I were married," a voice from the doorway caused Leia to look up at the woman of the house. She seemed much improved after her brief, but painful stay with the Tuskan Raiders. Aside from the slightly sallow look and the bacta patches here and there, she almost looked like her normal self.

Realizing what the woman had said, Leia quickly turned her eyes back to the wall she'd been "staring" at but not really seeing, and saw several holo-pics hanging there. One of the ones on the bottom had Cliegg and Shmi sanding in considerably nicer clothes than anything she'd seen them in, looking into each other's eyes and kissing. The one right next to it seemed to be of Owen at a much earlier age. 12 or 13 at the oldest.

"Oh, yes," she nodded politely, offering the other woman a smile. She doubted she'd fooled Shmi for a moment with her vague reply, but the other woman had the grace to not call her on it.

"Do you have any children yourself?" Shmi asked, walking in with slow steps that spoke of her still weakened state.

Leia had both Senatorial and Jedi training. She didn't flinch, and she would not show an ounce of sadness. Two had joined The Force, and the relationship with her remaining child, while much closer as of late, had never been the intimate relationship a mother and a daughter should have. She would not burden her newly found friend with that kind of detail, though. She had no reason to.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "Three children...although two are no longer with us."

Well, if she were right, none of the three were, but that was besides the point. It was a touchy subject, and that line should give Shmi the hint to change the subject. It did.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said softly, her voice low and reverent.

"Thank you," Leia responded in a matching tone.

"My son no longer lives with me." How had it been possible for her voice to get even quieter? Had Leia been subconsciously using The Force to hear?

"Owen?" Leia asked, confused.

Shmi chuckled. "Oh, Owen isn't my biological son."

"Oh. So you have another child?"

At this, Shmi nodded and her face lit up. "Ani. My little Ani. He went to Courscant to become a Jedi."

Leia's breath caught in her throat. The Jedi! Her mind had kind of skimmed over it, but in this era, the Jedi lived in full force. The Senate respected them and they helped to keep the peace. There was so much about the Old Jedi Order that the New Jedi Order couldn't even begin to guess at. This could be her chance to learn.

"I see," she said slowly, calculating her words. "You must be very proud. How old was he?"

"Oh yes," Shmi acknowledged "And the Jedi took him away at the age of 9."

"That young?" Leia asked, only marginally surprised.

"Actually, he was almost too old," the older woman said, eyes unfocused and clearly not in the present. "I was so afraid they wouldn't take him because he was too old..."

"You wanted them to take him?"

Shmi blinked and looked up at Leia. "I used to be a slave. As such, any children I had would be slaves. I didn't want him to have that kind of a life."

Leia's face twisted into confusion. "But I thought that slavery was abolished in the Old Republic."

"Old Republic?" it was Shmi's turn to look confused.

"I mean the Republic," Leia amended.

Shmi looked suspicious for a few seconds before brushing the comment off. "We're outside the Republic here. It has almost no presence, and most of the government is owned and ruled by the Hutts."

Leia suppressed a shudder. "I see," she said.

An awkward moment stretched between the two woman. Shmi broke it with a large smile.

"Would you like to see a holo of him?"

"Of who?"

"My Ani," Shmi said, already standing up and holding out the device in her hand. A young child appeared on the little disk, with sun-bleached hair, tan skin, smudges of grease on his cheeks and a large grin. He walked along with an armful of spare parts, seeming carefree and looking around at a few droids that wandered into the holo's capturing range.

Leia smiled. "He's adorable. Looks just like one of my sons at that age." Just then, the boy tripped, spilling parts in the air and his face froze in surprise. Apparently, the holo ended there, with him leaning precariously forward.

"He wanted nothing more than to be free," Shmi said sadly.

Subconsciously, Leia's respect for this woman rose a few notches. She was the epitome of motherhood, giving up everything for her son's welfare. Leia felt an old twinge of guilt at not being around for her children at the beginning of the New Republic.

"What did he like to do?" she asked, wanting to steer her thoughts away from their current direction.

"Mechanics and racing."

Leia laughed at this. "Sounds like your son and mine would get along famously."

"He won the Boonta Eve racing match held here every year," the older mother said, pride glittering in her eyes. "The first human ever."

"After he became a Jedi?" Leia asked. Surely he couldn't have raced at such a young age. Then again, Jaina probably could have done something along those lines...

"No, just before."

Leia's eyes widened in surprise. "9 years old?"

Shmi nodded, pride growing. "He built his own pod to race also."

"Wait," the brunette leaned forward, surprise melding into disbelief and a touch of shock. "Pod racing? As in illegal pod racing? And you let him compete?"

The former slave's smile disappeared almost immediately, replaced by a wistful expression. "No. If I would have had my way, he never would have gotten into a pod. Another reason why I wanted him to go with the Jedi."

The slave comment from before came to Leia's mind. "Oh, so your master made him do it?"

Shmi nodded. "I hated watching...but I couldn't not watch."

A pang of sadness and regret stole through Leia's own heart as Jacen's face came to mind. "Yes," she muttered, "I understand."

The awkward moment returned as each woman remained lost in her own thoughts. This time it was Leia who broke the silence.

"Tell me about Ani," she said. "What was he like?"

Shmi looked thoughtful. "He was the light of my life; the only reason I had to continue to live sometimes. Such a marvelous gift. He wanted to help everyone around him, no matter what. And he could do anything. He didn't care what anyone else said, he was determined to live free one day. Sometimes his dreams would come true, so they scared him."

Leia nodded. "Not uncommon for a Jedi. My brother had those kinds of dreams too."

Shmi blinked. "Your brother was a Jedi?"

Oops. She mentally kicked herself. Was she losing her touch? Back during the days of the Empire, she never would have made such a slip. But then again, when confronting the Imperial Senate, it was her life and the lives of her people on the line. Shmi felt...safe, welcoming and warm, especially in The Force. Leia wondered why she had no problem trusting the other woman implicitly. It struck her as somewhat odd. She didn't often take to people that way. Except maybe Luke, but he'd been a special case after all. Besides, everyone who got to know Luke at least learned to respect him.

"Yes," she said slowly but paused before offering any more information. True, she didn't exactly have to worry about exposing her brother or anything, but it never hurt to be cautious. Besides, 'Oh yes. In the future, he's the ex-Grand master of the Jedi Order that he rebuilt,' didn't seem like it would go over well.

"And you know him?"

Leia paused. She remembered something about how children were raised away from their families to become Jedi in the Old Republic. She hadn't realized it had been at _that_ young of an age that they were taken.

"I was told that later on in life," she said warily.

Shmi's expression softened, and she nodded. "I see."

Leia had just opened her mouth to respond, when Han walked in. "Leia I—Oh. Didn't mean to interrupt."

Shmi smiled. "That's okay, I was just leaving." Leia felt just a touch of amusement from the other woman and couldn't help but smile herself. "I'll go see to dinner."

"Where have you been?" Han asked once Shmi had cleared the doorway. "I thought you were supposed to be resting."

Leia rolled her eyes. "I am resting, Han. I can't spend all of my time cooped up in that little room."

Han sat down next to her, muttering about stubborn Jedi, throwing something in about Skywalker blood while he was at it. She gave him a mockingly offended glare.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the device in her hand.

She sobered immediately. "This is the news, Han," she said quietly, turning up the volume. "Look at the date."

Han blinked.

"But that's impossible," he said.

Leia nodded in agreement. "I know, but somehow, it's true. We really have gone back in time."

He sat back, shock and denial plain on his face. "But if that's true, then what are we going to do? How do we get home?"

She'd been afraid he'd ask her that, mainly because she didn't have an answer. "I don't know, Han. I don't know."

xXx

_Cling!_

Padme jumped as the metallic sound met her ears. Quickly, she scanned the small but cluttered engine room of her current transport, backing towards the door she'd just walked through. At least, she thought it was an engine room. What other space on a small cruiser like this would have mechanical parts that clicked and thumped to create a steady hum.

Mentally, she rolled here eyes at her 'professional' wording. She never had been good with mechanics.

Smoothing the dark, soft material of her comparatively simple dress, she steeled her nerves and stepped forward. It was just a simple noise after all. No reason to be nervous.

"Anakin?" she called out uncertainly.

_Cling! Cling! THUNK!_

A sudden rush of words in a language she didn't recognize caused her to whip her head in the direction the voice had come from. That hadn't sounded pleasant, and she doubted those words meant anything that wouldn't offend her if she could understand them. She covered a small snicker with her hand, spotting the source of the cursing. A pair of legs stuck out from underneath a large, round shape covered in wires and suspended above the floor at other at the end of the room.

"M'lady," Anakin said as he somehow managed to squeeze into view, rubbing a red mark that streaked across his forehead. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

She couldn't help the small smile that played at the edge of her lips again. "And what, pray tell, are you doing?"

He shot a glare at the mechanics behind him. "I heard something that didn't sound quite right, and decided to take a look."

"But," she blinked at the mess of unrecognizable wires and parts that looked solid enough to her, "the Queen wouldn't have given us anything sub par. What's wrong?" Her face suddenly paled and she met his eyes. "Sabotage?"

He paused and blinked up at her like he was trying to comprehend her words. Then a tug at his mouth released a snicker at her worried exclamation. "Nothing like that. I'm just checking some of the secondary systems."

She put a hand over her heart and sat back on her haunches. "Don't scare me like that!" He snickered again, looking down so as not to meet her eyes, probably so he wouldn't burst out in laughter at her expression. She scowled at his reaction and went to get up.

"As I recall, you're the one who jumped to the conclusion," he pointed out when he could speak without chuckling.

Her eyes narrowed at his smiling face. The idea of him laughing at her expense galled her more than she'd care to admit. "Excuse me for coming to that conclusion while I am in hiding due to an extremely dangerous situation—or so everyone insists on trying to impress upon me—not to mention the fact that my last experience with personalized, inter-galactic travel ended with several dear friends of mine dying in my place."

To his credit, his expression grew serious almost immediately. Still feeling rather irked and trying to ignore the touch of pain in her heart at the recent memories of loss, she turned on her heel to head back to the cabin.

"I'm sorry," he said, so softly she almost didn't hear him.

"What?" she asked shortly, looking over her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

_Well you did._ She wanted to say the thought out loud, but his tone, so sincerely sad, stopped her from doing so.

"Apology accepted," she said, her own voice soft, although it hadn't lost its edge. "Thank you, Jedi Skywalker." Turning, she continued to walk out, but his hand caught hers, stopping her before she reached the door. A shiver ran down her spine, but she refused to acknowledge it...or worse yet, let him acknowledge it. Stopping, she waited for him to say something without turning around. She did not want to look at him right now.

"I was just teasing," he said.

"Don't tease me like that," she said, closing her eyes. Corde's burned, blackened face flashed through her mind.

"I won't," he said, and she believed it. Something about the way he said it. "But I can't promise that I won't tease you again. You're funner to tease than Master Obi-wan."

Despite herself, she smiled. But she wasn't willing to give up her anger just yet. Turning, she sent him a glare, smile completely gone. It wasn't easy. He had a puppy-dog look on his face that reminded her of the little boy he used to be, both tugging at her heart, and not meeting up with her idea of a Jedi at all.

He seemed to do that a lot.

Suddenly, her mind went blank. What had she been about to say? And why was it that she could stand down Galactic Senators, the Supreme Chancellor and the entire Jedi Council, but this..._boy_ seemed to be able to rob her of her wits?

That's when she noticed he hadn't let go of her hand. She looked down at his stained fingers holding hers and swallowed, hopefully imperceptibly. "You can let go now," she said, praying she sounded more sure than she felt.

"Your hands are soft," he commented, stepping forward.

"What?" she asked, taking an unsteady step back.

He paused, blinking at his words, as if to realize what he'd just said. "I mean...you're hands. They're not like...other hands..."

She raised an eyebrow, holding back another snicker.

"I like them," he finally concluded weakly. "I like...holding them."

She felt a slight blush come to her cheeks at his blatant honesty. "I need to go and arrange dinner before we arrive at our next...destination," her breath caught in her throat as she backed up against the hard door. Despite her words, she didn't make a move to open said door. All it would take was a swipe of her palm, but her hand didn't seem to want to listen to her brain.

And why couldn't she take her eyes off of his? That color almost took her breath away. So blue. Like an ocean, or the lake by her family's villa.

When had he gotten that close? Shavit!

The curse word ran through her mind, but she only vaguely remembered to mentally reprimand herself.

"That can wait," he whispered, leaning down.

Her own voice came out breathlessly. When had she lost control of the situation?! "But we'll get there soo-"

His lips on hers cut off what she'd been going to say. She hadn't known what to expect from his kiss. Truthfully, she'd been avoiding the thought the entire trip. Perhaps she'd been expecting something electric or extremely warm. What she got was a feeling of _right_, and a lingering tingle at the base of her spine. Oh, and she couldn't seem to breathe either. That didn't mean she didn't thoroughly enjoy the experience. That surprised her. What surprised her even more, was the realization that she was kissing him back!

A sudden sense of shame washed over her and she turned her head away.

"I shouldn't have done that," she said. He'd made the first move, but she had encouraged his behavior. In her eyes, that placed just as much blame on her as it had on him. She felt her cheeks light up in an even deeper red.

"Padme..." he said, sounding only a touch unsure.

"Don't," she responded, shaking her head and refusing to meet his eyes. That's what had gotten her in trouble in the first place after all. "Please...don't." With that, she forcibly drew her hand away from his and palmed the door open. The air inside the hallway leading to the main area of the ship felt cool and refreshing as it rushed by. When had it gotten so hot in the engine room? Of course, engine rooms tended to be a warmer temperature, she told herself and turned away.

"Wash up before you come to eat," was all she could make herself say as her feet carried her down the carpeted hall.

She half expected him to follow.

He didn't.

xXx

Han wasn't stupid. Maybe a tad reckless at times, and definitely impulsive, but that didn't mean he was unintelligent. Truthfully, he'd always just considered himself a man of action. Leave the 'thinking things through' to someone better suited for it, and he'd be happy following orders...as long as they weren't against his own own moral code or suicidal. He'd still follow the suicidal orders, and somehow pull it off (if he respected the person giving said orders), he just wouldn't be happy about it.

Now as he sat in the Lars' living room, holding his wife close to him, he couldn't help but think. He wasn't tired, so at the moment he had little else to occupy his mind. Leia had cried herself to sleep at the thought of never seeing Jaina, Amelia, Luke or Ben again, and he wasn't about to move and wake her up. He also didn't feel like watching the portable holovid they'd turned off.

That left him alone with his thoughts, and reminded him why he was a man of action and not thought. His mind tended to drift to rather painful subjects. Subjects like his dead sons, or his dead co-pilot, or the fact that he would never see those people he cared for again. What would happen to Amelia? He hoped she wouldn't go back to her mother. Between the danger of her royal lineage on her mother's side and the Skywalker lineage on the other side, she just wouldn't be safe. That's why they'd taken her to begin with.

Most likely Luke would probably end up taking her under his wing.

And that made Han feel even worse.

He loved Amelia. He did. But no matter what he'd said, he still saw too much of Jacen in her...and it hurt. It would be just as bad for Luke. Han's brother-in-law had trained Jacen, put his trust in Jacen...and been betrayed horribly by him because of it. Would Amelia be a constant reminder of that?

Then there was the fact that if he did take her in, Luke would be stuck raising yet another child without the aid of his wife. With out any official aid, really. No, it would have been better if Amelia had just somehow come with them. It would be best if they could get back to her.

He sighed, leaning his head back against the surprisingly cool wall. He missed her already. Both of them did. If he were honest with himself, he'd admit that he _wanted_ her with them. It had taken a while for him to warm up to the idea of raising another child, but now the thought of not being able to nurture and protect her...

Eyes hardened as he looked up at the dusty ceiling. Okay, so what were the odds that they'd get back home? Heh, forget it! Corillians didn't care about odds. Skywalkers beat the odds on a regular basis. Between the two of them, they'd find a way.

And if they didn't, at least he could die knowing that they hadn't given up, and that they never would!


	6. Chapter 5

It took three more days before Leia could walk around without looking weak enough to collapse at the slightest difficulty. On the beginning of the third day, she dragged Han up onto the lip of the homestead to watch the second sunrise. The first sunrise was said to be the most beautiful, throwing the entire expanse of sky into color. The second, however, was not without it's own calm beauty, as its light played and danced in the atmosphere amidst the other sun's rays.

It was a lovely sight. The world of Tatooine would grow so still, with only the slightest breezes caressing the desert sand. It was the perfect time to get away from everyone and tell him her plan.

"Han," she said softly as she leaned against his shoulder, reveling in the feeling of his arms around her. "I want to go home."

He sighed. "Yeah, me too."

"So I was thinking..."

"Dangerous for a Skywalker."

"Oh, shut up," she muttered in a good-humored tone. Then she sobered. "No really, Han, I think there might be a way for us to go back."

He blinked, not willing yet to let his hopes rise. "How?"

"Whatever Ben did to send us back was left back in his hut, right?"

"Well, in the stone underneath the hut," Han frowned. "That's what the note said."

"We need to figure out what he did. Then maybe we can recreate it."

He began to catch on. "Except change it so that it can send us into the future."

She smiled. "Precisely."

His frown returned. "It sounds too easy."

This time, her smile vanished. "It probably is," she sighed. "I'm sure we'll run into several problems."

"Like what?"

"Like the language," she shook her head. "I have no real clue as to what those words meant, even if I did know how to pronounce them. Or what if it isn't written in any language at all, but some sort of Jedi script that's been lost for centuries?"

Han sighed. "Right." Then his eyes hardened in determination. "But we'll make it."

She nodded against his chest. "Or die trying."

He lifted her chin and leaned down to kiss them. When he broke away, he couldn't help but smile. "That's my princess."

She rolled her eyes.

xXx

"I'm not sorry," a deep voice bounced around the cockpit. Padme turned around in her seat to see Anakin leaning against the door frame. She hadn't even heard the door open. Heat rose to her cheeks again, as they had just about every time she'd seen him since the engine-room incident, as she'd begun to think of it as. Mentally she berated herself for acting like a hormonal, love-struck school girl.

Slightly embarrassed, she turned back to the console array. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not sorry," he repeated, taking the co-pilot seat and leaning back nonchalantly. She felt a twinge of annoyance that he seemed to be taking the situation so well when she couldn't. Some senator she made.

"We'll be arriving at the Ahooklae system soon," she said, gesturing to a holoprojector with the relevant information scrolling across it. It was an unremarkable system with no planets and two astroid belts that had been mined and abandoned almost a standard century before. The decision to jump to that system had been slightly dangerous, as it was unconventional to try and hit a real space point without any habitable planets nearby in case something went wrong. However, if someone had managed to trace them this far, the jump could easily throw any pursuers off of their trail, and they had enough fuel stored on board to easily make the final jump to Tatooine, even if they did run into a problem or leak of some sort. They also had a Jedi mechanic and a good deal of spare parts.

It also had the ideal prospect of not belonging to either the Seperatists or the Republic.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her companion shake his head at her blatantly obvious attempt to change the subject. "Padme..."

She bristled at his casual use of her name. So he wanted to talk, did he? She could talk. Very, _very_ well. "You're not sorry?" she asked, turning to meet his own impossibly blue gaze with a defiant glare. She steeled herself for his rebuttal, refusing to look away. She would not let his baby blues get the better of her this time.

He raised his eyebrow. "For kissing you."

She nodded, as if to say she understood. "I see. Do you do that often then?"

Okay, so it was a low blow, and completely unfounded, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. How dare he come in and say something like that when she'd been so unsettled by the act. Did he have no respect at all?

"Of course I don't," he replied indignantly. "Jedi don't...that's not fair," he commented, eyes narrowing.

She shrugged. "You're not sorry for breaking your code? For taking advantage of our situation? Of us being alone together for an extended period of time? For—"

"Hey," he cut off, sitting forward, "I don't remember you stopping me." Her breath hitched just slightly at his unfortunately accurate words. He caught it, a soft smirk coming to his mouth. "Just the opposite, actually."

The blush came back with full force. Shavit! How was it he could do this to her?! She refused to acknowledge the blush, staring with hard eyes at him and refusing to back down.

"I was simply caught up in the moment," she responded easily, thanking all of her teachers for their training in public and diplomatic speaking. "And unlike you, I _am_ sorry." No she wasn't. Not that she'd tell him that.

"You don't sound very sorry," he muttered, sitting back with arms folded. She did roll her eyes at his antics. He was a grown man, for goodness sake, sulking like a child. Like the little slave boy they'd rescued...

She wanted to bang her head against the wall for letting that thought soften her up. Of course he'd act this way. Even Jedi were human, and he'd had a far more difficult past than she had. Well, at the very least, he hadn't chosen to be born as a slave, while she had chosen at a very young age to brave the Rancor-infested world known as politics. It would stand to reason that he had issues he still hadn't worked through.

Sighing, she relaxed tiredly back in the chair. "Anakin, even if I did have feelings for you, nothing can come of it. You know that. We would be living a lie. I couldn't do that. Could you?" This time, he refused to meet her eyes, but his pouting expression had left. Now he only looked sad and resigned. A little piece of her heart chipped off at the sheer depression.

"No," he replied, his voice quiet. "I couldn't. If we did...it would destroy us."

The strangest sensation came over her; like one weight had been lifted from her shoulders only to be replaced with another, heavier one. She wanted to curse at someone, but not him. She hated the idea of a lose-lose situation. Just the fact that they'd been placed here by some cruel fate...

Shaking her head, she smiled weakly over at him. "It's for the best," she said. He nodded, but didn't respond, just watching the control panel blankly.

They sat like that, in an awkward silence neither one dared break, until they exited hyperspace. Once they'd made the final jump to Tatooine, she left him in the cockpit. She refused to dwell on what else she'd left in there with him.

xXx

It had been a week and a half after Han had brought Shmi back, and Leia had finally felt well enough to visit the nearest town; Mos Espa. Even then, Han didn't look too happy with the idea. It took her threatening him within an inch of his life before he actually agreed to let her 'tag along'.

Sometimes it surprised her just how infuriating he could still be. She'd thought that would get better with time after their marriage. She wasn't often _that_ wrong about people and their actions. Yet again, he proved to be the exception.

Then came the undesirable task of telling Shmi they were leaving. They'd already imposed on the family's hospitality for too long as it was. Of course, Shmi would have none of it.

"As far as we're concerned, you're both family," she stated simply. Han had just grumbled after that about trusting people you'd only met a few days before and about how these people sure acted naïve for living on such a dangerous planet.

She only allowed them to leave if they promised to return before they left the planet. So they finally agreed. Not half an hour later, Owen and Beru drove them into the settlement.

xXx

After all of his years with Luke, Leia, the kids and a plethora of other Jedi, Han had gotten used to them spacing out. He'd come to recognize this as some sort of Force...thing. It was just what they did. So when he walked out of the shop, cursing under his breath at the outrageous prices on their already stretched budget (basically, they had what little they'd brought with them to the Hermit's hut) to see her standing and staring into the distance, he knew something had happened.

Immediately the price he'd had to dish out for the recording device's fell from his mind, and he approached her carefully. More than once he'd been the victim of a vicious attack when startling a Force sensitive.

"Leia?" he asked carefully. "What's wrong?"

At first she didn't answer, although he could tell she'd heard him. Not a trance then. "I...don't' know," she finally said, her voice heavy and dazed. "A presence...I'm sure I've felt it before, but I can't remember where..."

Han blinked, mildly surprised. A presence? A familiar one? They'd come 50 years into the past. Who could possibly have a presence she'd met several years in the future? After a Jedi purge. Perhaps this presence wasn't Force sensitive?

Trying to understand always muddled his thoughts, so he looked into the distance with her.

"Is it dangerous?"

She paused, thinking. "I don't think so..." She didn't sound too sure, but Han would take it for now.

"Then let's worry about it later. Right now, we have to get back to that hut and try to figure out how to get home."

"Home..." she repeated, a little dreamily. Then she shifted, and he could tell she was about to bring something up that caused her great pain. "Han...Aalderan's still here..." she turned her brown eyes to him, pleading silently.

He never could resist that look, but he did his best. "Leia, we don't have the money, or the time..."

"But we have all the time in the universe!" she protested.

"You said yourself that you want to go back-"

"This is the last chance I'll ever get to see it," she whispered. "I never thought I'd get that chance again..."

He never could resist her. "You realize we'll probably have to take a hutt job and a provided ship to get the money we need."

She didn't answer.

This hadn't been the first time they'd discussed going off planet. This was the first time he gave in. "Alright," he said finally. "If we can get the money, I'll take you there."

Her arms slid around his waist and she pulled him close. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. He could feel the grateful feeling flowing off of her in waves. At least he imagined he could.

Maybe he really had been around force-sensitives too long.

Shaking his head, he drew himself, and consequently her, back to the task at hand. "Now let's go see what we can find under that hut."

She nodded and followed him to their newly rented speeder.

xXx

Anakin was having a rather difficult time of keeping his excitement, fear and anticipation in check. His thoughts had been mostly on Padme lately, but now he found he could only focus on his mother and almost everything else got pushed to the back of his mind as they came into orbit around Tatooine.

The planet below looked as unremarkable as ever. It was after all, essentially one giant ball of rock and sand floating in space. At least in his mind.

Sand. Ugh. But he'd brave it for his mother. That and the rest of the universe's dangers a thousand times over if necessary. He glided the ship expertly into the docking bay and landed. It took all of a few minutes compared to Courscant's two hour minimum to just get through the atmosphere, but it still felt like hours to him.

Just before they disembarked, he reached out with the Force to get a feel for the surroundings, and paused. Confused and slightly bewildered, he turned to look over the horizon. He felt something...a presence...

"Anakin?" Padme asked, drawing him out of his thoughts. He turned to meet her concerned gaze. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's here," he said.

Her face paled slightly. "Who?"

"I...don't know. I've never felt this presence before..." but it seemed familiar somehow. He couldn't place it, or really describe it even.

She bit her lip, obviously weighing the options. She wanted to leave, he realized, but didn't want to say it to his face. It was a battle between their safety and Anakin's peace of mind. Strangely enough, he knew that if she'd been the only one in danger, there would have been no contest. He smiled inwardly at that. So she did care about him.

"They're not here for us, whoever they are."

She blinked, looking back up at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It's probably just another Jedi on a mission. I don't feel any darkness from them at all."

Relieved, she nodded. "Shall we begin then?" she asked, then turned and stalked out of the landing bay, pulling her blue cloak over her head and leaving him to follow in her wake.

xXx

"Han," Leia said softly as her fingers brushed over the stone they'd painstakingly uncovered. It looked old and worn, and it most definitely was not sandstone.

Han moved over, casting a shadow over her back. She knew he hadn't meant to really cause relief from the blistering suns, but still felt grateful for it. He leaned over, glancing down at the rock she was trying to keep the sand away from. If she hadn't been using the Force, it would have been a losing battle at best.

It amazed her to realize how easily her Jedi abilities came to her now. Not even ten years ago, using the Force in this way wouldn't have even been an option.

"That seems to be what we've been looking for," he said. "Do you know how to pronounce all of this too?"

She stared at the strange squiggles that had been meticulously carved into the stone. "I...think so," she said softly. Yet again, she didn't know how she knew, but she did. "I still don't know what it means, though."

He hummed in agreement brought out the holo-recorder. "Well then, let's get this down."

Leia nodded. "I'll clear away more over here," she said.

Han looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. It was his way of showing concern when he didn't want to show concern. "Will you be alright?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine."

"Don't push yourself too much," he commented, trying to sound hard and failing miserably. "You said it yesterday, Leia. We have all the time in the universe."

He did have a point. "I won't, Han," she returned, feeling both annoyed at his over-protectiveness, but warm inside at his concern.

"Good," he said. "The last thing I need is to show up back at the Lars' place with a half-dead princess...again."

She rolled her eyes again, but couldn't help the snicker that escaped from her throat as she went back to work, and started clearing away the sand again.

xXx

It took them days to finally get everything uncovered and documented. Then, to be safe, they double and triple checked everything which took them even longer. Truthfully, with the fairly primitive scanning equipment available on the planet, it was a wonder they were able to satisfactorily finish when they did.

Often Leia would just sit back and watch her husband; a bounty-hunter-turned-rebel-turned-lover-turned-father-turned...well, it got kind of vague from there. She couldn't help but remember the impulsive but almost lazy man that strove to hide his good heart under a blanket of selfishness. He still showed a lot of those traits, but as always, she couldn't help but see the good man she'd fallen in love with. The one who tended to end up being even more of a perfectionist than her when it came to something they desperately wanted.

Han tended to have two equally motivated levels when he got like this: his insane, impulsive "do whatever you have to" level, and his calm, calculating and horribly obsessive level. The second one rarely showed itself, so Leia took time to notice and make a mental note whenever it did.

If Han was willing to work for his goal like that, than Leia would do whatever she had to do as well.

Just as he would for her.

He insisted that they take soil samples several mini-standard-lengths deep and had the entire rock layout completely modeled on his hand-held holographic computer by the time they finished. He then backed the image up three times on three separate data cards and triple checked his work.

Now, as they drove back to the Lars homestead, Leia couldn't help but smile and sit back contentedly, if a bit gently. Her whole body ached like it used to when she'd undergone training, but it had been worth it. From here on out, it was a matter of making sure they could discover the meanings behind the words and the tweaks they would have to make. It was strange, but now that they had all of the rock documented, she didn't get that strange plodding that let her know the pronunciation of the words. It must have been some sort of Force imprint or message...

They'd even brought back a large chunk of rock with a sample of the words chiseled into it so they could continue to study the Force signature. Truthfully, Leia had been surprised that she'd felt almost no change in the stone when they'd chipped such a large chunk right out of the middle of the design. She suspected the reason for that was because the diagram had already been used.

"Almost there, Leia," Han's voice broke through her thoughts and she glanced over at him. "Want to call in that we're on our way?"

"Sure," she said, pulling out the communicator. It was difficult to get a signal on Tatooine, especially at this time with the local communication technology. Basically if you weren't contacting a hutt, and you only had a portable com (even one from the future apparently), you were out of luck at a range of more than a hundred or so clicks, depending on the location

Today they were pretty lucky as it seemed the call connected. It took a few moments for someone to answer the com.

"Han! We've been waiting to hear from you!" Cliegg's voice rang merrily across the channel. Leia and Han exchanged a curious glance. He certainly sounded like he was in a particularly good mood. Were the Lars that happy to hear from them?

"Actually, it's Leia," the former princess said. "We just called to let you know we should be there within twenty minutes or so."

"Excellent! We have a few other guests, but you're always welcome."

"Other guests?" Han asked, surprised. Leia scowled at his poor manners.

"You can meet them when you get here. We'll set you both up with a decent bed this time. I finally got Owen to clean out some of our spare rooms and dig out some old furniture. It's not the most comfortable, but it should be better than a bunch of blankets on some crates."

"You don't have to," Leia protested. The reason Han had asked for a room before was because he wanted Leia to have some privacy so she could rest and recover. It wasn't like they hadn't camped out in worse places before after all. "Especially if you have other guests. We could just head over to Anchorhead and grab a room for the night."

"Don't you even think about it," Cliegg responded. "Besides, our guests want to meet and thank you personally."

Han frowned and Leia furrowed her brow. "Thank us for what?" the former Princess asked cautiously.

"For saving Shmi, of course. I'll let them know you're coming. We look forward to seeing you! Cliegg out."

With that, the line went to static.

Leia turned to look at Han, who seemed thoughtful for once.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Well, we haven't been around long enough to make enemies with anyone but the Sand People," he raised an eyebrow in her direction. "What do you sense?"

She blinked and mentally kicked herself. It seemed keeping her Force senses open and alert still didn't come as easily to her as she'd like. Closing her eyes, she focused on the Force, wincing only slightly. Every now and then it still stung when she touched the source of her Jedi powers, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. It only took her a moment to stretch out her senses when she gasped and opened her eyes.

"What?" Han asked worriedly.

"The presence I felt before," she said. "It's ahead...at the Lars' farm."

"So we really will have a welcoming committee."

"I still don't feel anything from him," she said, brow furrowing in thought. "No danger. Actually, he seems particularly happy."

"He?" Han asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Does it still feel familiar?"

She sighed. "Yes, somehow, but I still can't place it."

"Could it be Kenobi?"

Bringing a hand to her chin, she tapped it thoughtfully. "I can't be sure. I was too inexperienced when he died. It would explain why he feels so familiar." Actually, she was impressed Han had come up with that answer. Probably cross-referencing all of the strong, non-dangerous force presences with the people they knew who would have been alive at this time. That boiled it down to Kenobi and Yoda...well, there were a few others, but Leia couldn't think of anyone besides Obi-wan who would have been on Tatooine.

Then again, why would Obi-wan be on Tatooine at this time, before the war had even started?

"If it is Kenobi then we need to be careful," Leia said, reaching down and taking her lightsaber off of her belt and sticking it in the bag she'd taken to carrying around. "We can't let them know I'm a Jedi."

"We could just say we're from Corillia," Han muttered with a mischievous grin.

"And you honestly don't think they'll do their homework? That would buy us some time at the most."

"What if we were on a secret long-term mission in the unknown regions?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Again, it would just buy us time. The Jedi of this time would have access to the records necessary to confirm that story."

"Right," Han muttered. That story would have easily gone over in the future just because they didn't have the data to prove otherwise. "So, are we still going?"

Leia sighed. "It would seem more suspicious if we didn't."

"This is going to be another one of those boring meetings where we have to watch every little thing we say and tip-toe around just about every relevant subject, isn't it?"

"Probably," Leia said with a small smile. "Nothing we can't handle."

He shot a dry look at her. "I'm sure we can find a way to botch it."

She couldn't help a giggle. "Are you going to blame my Skywalker heritage again?"

He chuckled, sending her another lopsided grin. "Well it's either that or my wild Corillian luck."

"Maybe a little bit of both?" she asked playfully.

For several moments he feigned thinking, then shook his head. "Nah. It's you. Always was."

"Says the smuggler that helped save the universe multiple times."

"Which I wouldn't have had to do if I'd never met you."

"You're the one that wanted the reward."

He grinned again, although this time it seemed rather nostalgic. "Definitely got that, didn't I?"

She knew he wasn't talking about the money he'd gotten and couldn't help but beam like a love-struck teenager. She'd really missed the closeness of their relationship that had, between her work to restart the Republic and Han's wanderlust, suffered until just recently. They'd worked so hard to get it back and now, it seemed, they'd succeeded.

"I think we both did," she replied and reached out to hold the one hand that wasn't on the steering as they sped along under the bright, Tatooine suns.

xXx

They pulled up to the farm and turned off the engine just outside of the garage entrance. Shooting each other a look, they both walked up to the door. Han had a hand on his blaster holster and Leia gripped her lightsaber with the cover that she was searching through her bag for something.

They hadn't even gotten to the door when the it opened, revealing a beaming Shmi and a rather happy looking Cliegg.

"Han, Leia! Welcome!" Shmi said, coming out to envelope her in a hug. Leia couldn't help the large smile that spread across her face as she caught the other woman's contagious mood. Meanwhile Cliegg walked up to Han, shaking his hand firmly and clapping him on the back. Leia saw him wince but return the handshake steadily.

That's when Leia noticed the young man and woman standing in the door. She couldn't see either one of their faces as they both wore cloaks, but the one with the darker, earth-toned cloak was definitely the presence she'd been sensing. His very existence was...intimidating—almost awe-inspiring in the Force. Even Luke hadn't shone quite that bright.

"We were afraid you were going to skip the planet without telling us," Cliegg said as he and Han made their way into the house followed by their wives.

"Couldn't. We promised," Han returned.

"Where's Owen?" Leia asked.

"Oh out with Beru somewhere," Shmi said with a giggle that belied her age. For a moment, she reminded Leia of a school girl, and the future Jedi couldn't help but smile as well. It struck her again as to just how amazing this woman was to still be able to laugh and bring a smile to other people's faces after all of her experiences. She also realized how close she'd already grown to the woman.

They entered the comparatively dim interior and Shmi closed the door behind them, then immediately turned to Leia.

"Leia, the most wonderful thing has happened! My son came back! He's home!"

Leia blinked. "Your son? The Jedi?" A slow sinking feeling began in the base of her stomach. She'd been hoping that he wasn't affiliated with anyone and that they could avoid the Jedi until they were at least a little more prepared. Shmi nodded emphatically and, still beaming, turned to the cloaked couple.

"Ani, meet Leia and Han." The dark-robed figure stepped forward, lowering his hood. He had short, dark-blond hair with a braid hanging down by his ear and tan skin stretched over lean features. All in all, he was rather handsome, but it was the blue eyes that really drew Leia in. They seemed so familiar... A pang of sadness rushed through her when she looked into them. He seemed so young. Too young to be a Jedi. Then again, Luke had been young when he'd taken on the Emperor. Even younger when he'd destroyed the original Death Star.

Despite his age and the life he had to have lead already, Ani also seemed happy and almost as excited as a puppy. He wore a smile on his face that she could practically feel through the Force.

Shmi paused and turned to her newest guests. "Leia, Han; this is my son, Ani."


	7. Chapter 6

_Shmi paused and turned to her newest guests. "Leia, Han; this is my son, Ani."_

"Mom..."Ani said, and though the tone held a hint of warning, Leia couldn't sense any real threat behind the word.

"Oh! Your mission! I'm sorry, Ani, I, I'm just so-" the Shmi exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth. "I'm just so excited to have you here. You've grown so much!" The tall blonde was grasped by the shoulders and pulled into a hug by his mother.

Leia watched the banter with wistful amusement. Where Leia's own children would have reprimanded her and walked away or blushed in embarrassment, Ani simply, albeit awkwardly, tried to return the hug, a small but genuine smile on his face. "So you've been telling me." After a few more moments, mother and son stepped away from each other, although their smiles never dimmed. Then Ani turned to Han and Leia. "Please forgive me, but as it is my duty to protect..." he paused and sent a look back at the other cloaked figure, who didn't seem to be in any hurry to take down her hood. "Her," he finished, "We have decided to give out as little information as possible, even to those we would consider friends. This includes our names. You may call me Ani, and this is..."

"Corde," the hooded woman stepped forward and gracefully held out her hand. Leia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She knew high-class mannerisms when she saw them, and had surprisingly few compunctions mimicking the gesture despite the raised eyebrows it caused. Corde then turned to Han, who thankfully remembered his manners and took her hand in greeting before bowing stiffly. Leia fought the urge to roll her eyes affectionately. Even with the, near excessive training Han had been forced through as a General (not to mention her own poking and prodding), he still wasn't very comfortable with formalities. She doubted he ever would be.

At that point, Shmi spoke up. "Oh, don't worry, dear, you can take that hood off again. Han and Leia are perfectly fine." Corde glanced over at Shmi and then at Ani before nodding slowly and lowering her hood to reveal a very young, pretty face. A rather intricate but small headdress held her hair back from her face, and the rest of her hair fell in beautiful, brown curls. She seemed very out of place in the sandy environment of Tatooine and had a sort of grace about her movements that Leia had always envied in other high-born children.

"It seems you've heard of me," Ani spoke up, drawing the attention away from his companion even as Corde sat down again. Nodding to his Mother, who somehow managed to smile even more brilliantly, he also chose to sit down. Funny, but in that moment he reminded her of Luke, subtly but firmly protective of those he felt responsible for. She shook the thought from her head sadly. She hated how it hurt to be reminded of her family, and she didn't have time to examine the emotions right now.

"It is an honor to meet you. Both of you," Anakin continued. "Without you," he glanced over at Shmi, blue eyes grateful, sad and happy all at once, "my mother may not be here now. If you ever need anything, please let me know. I will do whatever I can to make it possible."

"Oh, Ani," Shmi grinned as she walked over and held her son again. "You haven't changed at all."

Ani looked down, seeming a little embarrassed. "I would hope I've changed for the better."

Shmi walked over and put her hand on his. "Of course you have, Ani. I just...I knew that going with Master Qui-Gon would change you, make you grow up even more so than the awful circumstances you were born into. It has, and I'm so proud of the man you've grown into, but even so, I still see my innocent little boy." Shmi was tearing up as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth again, and Leia had to hide her own grin.

"I wasn't _that_ innocent then, and I'm certainly not now," the Jedi muttered. The woman next to him giggled. He glanced over at her. "What?"

"I think you'll always be 'Ani' here," Leia heard her state quietly, grin evident and a sort of teasing glee in her voice.

Ani gave the hooded woman a pout that more than rivaled the most obstinate one Leia had ever received from her children. The former princess couldn't help but think, _'this is a Jedi?'_ He certainly didn't seem like the Jedi from before the purges that she'd heard of. From the few broken records Luke had managed to scrounge up, they'd figured that the Old Jedi Order had forbidden relationships and attachments (and after Jacen and Anakin, she could see their point, even if she still didn't agree with it), but the stoic, stalwart images she'd conjured in her mind did not mesh with this person before her in the slightest. Especially not with the way that he looked at this woman.

After an annoyed but affectionate glare, he turned his attention back to Leia and Han and in an obvious attempt to change the subject, tried to start a slightly pointed, but still polite, conversation.

"So, why are you here on Tatooine? Unless you just go around saving people at random and just happened to be here at the right time..."

The fact that Ani didn't know about their little jaunt through time made that statement far too ironic for Leia's tastes.

"Actually," the future Jedi started, glancing over at Han and noting that her husband hadn't missed the irony either, "an old friend of the family lived here when I was young. We, received word that something might have happened and were in the area, so we made a stopover."

"Really?" Cliegg asked, surprised.

"Oh?" Shmi said at the same time. Then she continued, "Did you find him?"

Leia sighed. "No. We did find his dwelling though. He lived as a hermit out near the Dune Sea."

"Strange," Cliegg interrupted. "Not many live out that way, and there aren't that any I'd call a hermit currently."

Han spoke up before Leia could. "From the state we found the place in, it's been abandoned for several decades."

"We're afraid he died," Leia added softly, trying to muster as much of her old regret as she could. "With how much we move and how isolated he was...we're rather lucky we got here at all.

"We're a ways off from the Dune Sea, what happened to bring you this way?" Anakin asked, genuinely curious and a tad suspicious.

"I...got hurt," Leia said, exchanging another glance with Han. "Or sick, really."

"Something from off planet?" Shmi asked nervously.

Cliegg seemed to share her thoughts. "Why didn't you tell us? You would have still been welcome, but we'll need to contact the immigration office and let them know! If it's contagious—"

"No," Leia cut in, her voice soft but firm, "it's not something you catch. It's something I inherited. A bit personal, and something we have to watch out for," Han's derisive snort earned a glare from her before she turned back to the group around her, "but it's definitely genetic."

The other older couple in the room looked decidedly relieved. "Oh," Shmi said breathlessly. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely positive," Leia nodded firmly.

"Ah, well then," Cliegg nodded. "We had wondered why you'd come all the way out here. Where will you be going next?"

Leia's lips thinned ever so slightly. "Alderaan," she said quietly. "I'm going home..." she faded off for a moment, lost in memories that were so sharp it almost felt she was home already, before she looked up at the room and realized they all had their attention on her. She decided to clarify. "Alderaan is my childhood home. I haven't seen it for...almost twenty years now." And it _still_ hurt to think about. Times like these when she almost wished the Emperor were alive just so she could take him down again...

And that was when another thought hit her that stopped her cold. Palpatine. Of course he'd still be alive at this point, and probably well on his way to power if he wasn't there already. The Clone Wars had been under his rule; a major turning point that allowed him to create the Empire. It was strange to think that in a few short years events would come to pass that would cause the downfall of the Jedi and the rising of the Empire, the creation of Darth Vader... She shuddered. That would be one person she could very easily do without meeting.

"Leia?" she heard Han's voice break through her thoughts. She realized everyone in the room was looking at her again.

"Hm?" she asked, blinking. "I apologize. What were you saying?"

"They were just asking why you left Alderaan," Han said, worry coloring his tone.

She gave him a smile that said she'd be fine. "I left on a mission for my father. He...worked for the royalty on Alderaan as an ambassador at large. I was training to take over from him when I met this rogue." She elbowed Han lightly.

"So you grew up around politics also?" Corde asked.

Leia nodded, and the two women shared a grin that came from a recognition of common strengths. "Yes, for the most part. I spent a good deal of my life fighting for what I thought was right and was happy doing so both politically and physically." She paused and turned to the most "mysterious" person seated in the room. "You enjoy politics then?"

The woman smiled. "I enjoy the challenge the political system represents, and seeking out and securing allies," Leia met her feral grin at that, as her ability and hard work to gather friends for the rebellion was still one of the accomplishments she felt most proud of, "but I find myself more and more frustrated as of late. It saddens me to see to what lengths even good people will go to so as to remain in power."

Leia nodded in full agreement. "That is one reason why I removed myself from the arena." It was strange really, but she felt able to confide in this woman. Somehow, Leia knew Corde would understand her current feelings far more than her husband could. Probably more than Luke would be able to, even. "Keeping up took so much of my time. Staying in a position that would let me do what I needed to cost so much, and I still wonder to this day if the things I fought for and the decisions I made were right... But I've never been the kind of person to sit by the wayside and watch the universe pass me by." Another snort from Han had Leia smiling over at him this time.

"Nope," Han said, his eyes on his wife. "You're always there, rushing head-first into the most dangerous situations you can find and never thinking about yourself."

Leia shook her head in fond reminiscence. "What can I say? I was raised well," she said, taking a subtle jab at Han's own past and at her heritage at the same time, although only Han would know that.

"It seems you and I are of the same mind, Mrs. Solo," Corde said, the smile having never left her face.

"Leia," the former Princess corrected immediately and turned back to the woman. "Call me Leia."

Corde regarded Leia for a moment before nodding. "Very well, Leia."

"So, do you guys have your own ship?" Ani asked suddenly, causing Leia and Han to turn their attention to him.

"We did," Han muttered darkly.

"What happened?" Shmi gasped.

"We don't know," Leia sighed, as Han muttered a derogatory comment under his breath.

"Was it stolen?"Cliegg asked sharply.

Leia and Han both paused. "We think so," Leia said softly, grateful that they'd come up with a reason as to why they were suddenly on the planet without a ship before hand.

"Have you reported it?" the older Lars demanded angrily.

"Yes," Han said slowly. "But if the hutts didn't confiscate it, I wouldn't be surprised if the Jawas or Sand People got their claws on it. We put her down right by the Old Man's hut, then while we were scouting around Leia had her...episode." Leia had to suppress an eye-roll at that. "I tried to get us to the ship so we could make it to a settlement, but I spotted Sand People between us and the Falcon. Even if we had made it, she's a freighter not a fighter. From a cold start it would take long enough that I didn't want to be caught inside a very small ship against a hoard of Tuskans, especially with a sick wife—"

"So you set out across an unknown desert hoping to outrun them," Cliegg cut in dryly.

Han frowned and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Leia cut him off. "Han's never been one to think clearly when he panics."

"Well excuse me, Princess," Han muttered, more than a little put out.

"You were pretty lucky, you got here, then," Cliegg said with a shake of his head. "If the Jawas found it or the Sand People hauled it off, there isn't much we can do to get it back."

"The hutts definitely won't return it either," Shmi agreed. "So you're stranded here?"

"It seems so," Leia said.

"But I'm a pretty dang good pilot, so we figure we could get a job at Mos Eisley or Mos Espa to make our way back to society."

"No," Ani cut in. "We'll take you."

"Ani?" Corde asked quietly, confusion and worry coloring her words.

"Why not?"Ani turned to his companion and dropped his voice pleadingly. "Alderaan isn't more than two jumps away from here. It isn't like we have anywhere else to be either."

Corde still seemed unsure.

"They saved my mother, P...Corde. I told them if they needed anything..."

"We wouldn't want to be an inconvenience," Leia said hastily. While she very much liked the idea of not having to depend on the hutts (and she especially did not like the idea of having to do something illegal) to get to where they needed to go, she did not particularly want to get involved in Jedi business either. She also didn't particularly want to come between these two. They certainly seemed far closer than just a Jedi bodyguard and his charge.

"We'll discuss this later," Corde said, her voice firm with an underlying hard edge that no one in the room missed, but no one seemed to want to comment on either.

"Very well, My Lady," Ani returned, a teasing tone to his words countering her own.

"Well," Cliegg said, slapping his legs with his hands and pushing himself into a standing position, "Owen and Beru will be back soon. Why don't we start on dinner?"

"Yes, that sounds like a lovely idea," Shmi said as she joined her husband. "Leia, Corde, would you mind helping me with dinner?"

Leia frowned. She didn't mind helping at all, but the request had an underlying tone of female subservience that she really did not like. Still, with the tension in the room from the previous discussion, she didn't particularly want to argue at the moment, so she simply nodded and stood to follow her hostess. Han, who probably noted her frown and knew exactly what she was thinking, smirked as she walked away. Leia raised an eyebrow in a silent message that promised retribution before walking out and into the hall.

xXx

Han watched Leia go with no small amount of amusement. Oh, he'd pay for it later, but right now he was just enjoying her frustration at the indignity of it all.

Once the women had left, Cliegg walked over to Han, who stood to meet him. "I'm guessing you didn't know you were going to be out a ship when you left earlier."

"No," Han said with a sigh, thinking with a pang in his heart of his beloved Falcon. "I mean, I knew it was a possibility but we'd hoped..."

Cliegg nodded. "Well, whatever we can do to help, we will do. I mean that."

Han shook his head. "As if putting us up for weeks on end and feeding us isn't enough as it is."

"You saved my wife's life. As far as I'm concerned we owe you for the duration of ours."

"I'll do what I can to help too," Ani said, stalking up to them determinedly.

Han grinned. "Don't let us come between you and your lady friend." For some reason Han found the blush that rose on the kid's cheeks rather amusing.

"I'm not...we're not...but...uh..."

Han waved his stuttering off with a dismissive gesture. He liked this kid. Reminded him of Luke for some reason. "Look, we can take care of ourselves. We've been doing so for a while now."

Ani seemed to recover his wits, and (like Luke and half the headstrong teenagers Han had met in his lifetime) set his jaw firmly. "If Corde and I can't take you off planet ourselves, we'll find a way to get you a ship. I'll build you one myself if I have to."

Han laughed, unable to dismiss how much that had sounded like Anakin, his youngest. "Thanks, kid. Just don't focus on us so much that you forget why you're here to begin with," he replied, thinking of the teen's protective stance over the young woman.

Ani blinked at him for a moment looking confused. Han just laughed and walked to the door.

"Hey, from what I recall you're gonna need some more seats around your table. I'm betting you're gonna need someone to help you dig some chairs out, right Cliegg?"

"Nah," Cliegg responded as he walked to catch up with his guest. "We have enough seating from the celebration party. We're just going to have to move things around a bit to fit everyone."

Still looking slightly bewildered, Ani followed the two older men out, leaving the dusty living room empty.

xXx

Leia couldn't sleep. That wasn't exactly new, but for once, she didn't know _why_. Usually when she couldn't rest, she had a good reason; a major battle, an important Senate meeting, Anakin's death, Jacen... Kriff, she could even usually reason out whether the problem went back to Jaina or Luke. But tonight, she had nothing so drastic hanging over her head. It seemed she simply just could not sleep.

Frustration built slowly as the minutes passed and she continued to simply lay there in the rather deep darkness with Han snoring softly beside her. She'd wondered if her body's lack of cooperation was because they'd finally gotten to sleep on something softer than a wooden plank and she'd just gotten used to sleeping under more uncomfortable circumstances. She doubted she had gotten that soft though.

Well, whatever the reason she knew she'd be regretting it in the morning, but she saw little point in just lying on her bed, awake for the whole night. Perhaps if she could tire herself out? She hadn't really been able to practice her katas much lately, and she definitely wanted to start getting back in shape after her illness. When they got back, Saba would have her head if she didn't at least try to keep up with her Jedi exercises. She doubted her rather harsh instructor would take her inability to touch the Force for a few weeks as a good excuse. Actually, she'd probably sense Leia's stronger connection and say that should make up for it.

That, Leia recognized suddenly, was probably part of her sleeping problem. In the days since her recovery she had realized just how much more connected to the Force she'd become. She wasn't sure if immersing herself in the Force the way she'd been compelled to had made her connection stronger or somehow just...brought her closer to it, for lack of a more fitting phrase. Perhaps a bit of both.

She could still cut herself off from it if necessary, but now that touching it didn't hurt so much she'd become far more aware of the source of her powers and her connection to the galaxy around her. The observation didn't scare her, per se, but it was a change and she didn't know how it would affect her in the future, especially if she would have to immerse herself the same way to get her and Han back.

She wasn't looking forward to the experience.

It had _hurt. _A great deal, actually.

She suspected she'd spiritually burned herself out with too much exposure. Could she survive another trip through time, or would it kill her? Could doing so destroy her ability to touch the Force or would it make her even stronger still? She'd still try it for Han's sake, but she knew there were consequences for overexposure to just about anything, let alone the energy field that consisted of...well, life. And the worst part was the fact that she couldn't really test it thoroughly with Ani around. Or with any Jedi, really, not without broadcasting herself and raising far too many questions.

It was just too risky. She knew she'd already had a rather significant Force presence, and it had been difficult to hide her presence and training before. Could she do so now without cutting herself off completely? She doubted it, especially not without practice.

Catch 22.

Grabbing her lightsaber, she slipped out of the room, rubbing at her aching, dry eyes. She'd have to find a good place to practice. The courtyard would undoubtedly be empty this time of night, but she would be too easily seen by anyone needing a nightly run to the refresher. No, she'd have to go somewhere more secluded.

Making up her mind, she climbed the steps and began to make her way towards the work shed. It was a large building where the Lars kept most of their spare parts and equipment. They also stored their droids there when not in use. The ceiling was high enough that she wouldn't have to worry too much about the more daring parts of her katas that she'd been working on recently (well, before their little time-trip in any case) and there would be enough space to move around...

Her thought process faded off when she felt a twinge through the Force.

Immediately, she slipped her lightsaber into her sleeve. Leia really didn't need her (admittedly rather minimal) Jedi training to be discovered and she knew that Force Signature. Shmi's son, it seemed, had had the same idea. She hesitated and eyed the building. She should go back to bed or find something else to do.

Talking to the Jedi was dangerous given hers and Han's status as time travelers.

Still, something about Ani's presence drew her forward and she approached the large work shed cautiously. Keeping her presence as toned down as she could while staying alert for the many dangers of Tatooine, she crept up to the worn building and quietly opened the door.

Slipping inside, she peeked around the corner of the entry way and blinked in surprise. As she'd suspected, Ani was indeed practicing his katas with a vigor and single-mindedness that reminded her of herself. Albeit his were far more advanced and impressive-looking than anything she'd accomplished so far and he also seemed to have a grace and ease about him that she knew she'd never be able to achieve with a saber in her hands, but the thought still brought a smile to her lips. Perhaps the old and new Jedi weren't quite so different after all?

She watched Ani for several minutes as he continued to work up to the more difficult exercises. This time, yet again, the way he moved reminded her of Luke. He seemed to be using a similar form to her brother's, and that was probably why, but the realization brought a pang of longing and loneliness to her heart. She hadn't realized how much she'd relied on Luke's presence, but now that it wasn't there it left an aching hole inside of her that she knew would never truly be filled. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to go back to their time. It brought a pain bursting from so deeply inside of her that it almost stole her breath away. Was this how Jaina felt now that Jacen was gone? Sadness for her daughter built on top of her heartache and she suddenly found herself on her knees and realized that Ani had noticed her and stopped his katas to come and kneel before her worriedly.

She hadn't even been self aware enough to notice him moving. She suppressed a sigh and raised a hand to her face only to pull it away when she realized it felt wet. Oh, wow. No wonder poor Ani seemed so concerned.

"Forgive me," she said after a moment. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"Are you...alright?" he asked uncertainly.

Leia nodded. "Yes, thank you."

The kid looked so relieved at her words that she almost laughed. Were Jedi all that naive? Somehow, she doubted it.

"What happened?" he asked. She noticed for the first time that he had sweat running down his face and seemed to be breathing fairly hard, but he'd pushed that aside in his concern for her. Apparently her sudden attack of emotion had really gotten to him. For some reason, she felt touched by his concern.

She paused and wiped her tears away as she tried to consider what she should say. Eventually, she settled on a version of the truth, one that could be corroborated with Shmi if necessary.

"My twin brother was a Jedi," she said softly. "He's...not around right now and even though I didn't grow up with him...it's just...he's not there. I can sense it. I didn't even realize it but seeing you..." She cut herself off before she lost control again.

"I know it won't mean much, but you have my condolences," Ani said softly as he reached out and put a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"Thank you," she found herself saying gratefully, able to feel the sincerity in his words.

"I could tell you were Force sensitive," he said. To her surprise, he shifted into a seated position in front of her, as if to prepare for a long discussion. "But it must be hard, to never have met your brother. Perhaps I knew him?"

Leia appreciated the sentiment, but she still shook her head with a wry, sad smile. "No, I doubt very much that you did."

Ani shrugged. "What was his name. I probably at least heard of him."

Leia looked down, frowning slightly. She didn't want to say his whole name. After all, they still had Vader to think about, and she couldn't go throwing Luke's last name around like that. She wondered briefly how Darth Vader would look at this point in time, but brushed the thought from her head, choosing instead to focus on more pleasant (if just as painful) topics. She hadn't thought about her biological father in a long time. Even after all of these years it was still a subject she liked to avoid. Between Vader and her sons...well, there was just too much pain associated with those general subjects for her to be able to really dwell on them for too long.

"Luke," she said finally, figuring she should stick with the truth as much as she could. After all, the best lies were based off of truths.

Ani frowned and glanced upwards in thought. After a few moments, he shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I don't know of any 'Luke'. Are you sure he kept that name?"

Leia nodded. Then, noting the puzzled expression on his face again, decided to go with Han's suggestion as an explanation. If it were mentioned just in passing, she doubted anyone would look into it. "He was taken to Corillia to be trained. I actually got to meet him there, once. They don't hold to the idea of 'no attachments' as much."

Ani cocked his head, looking suddenly interested. "Really?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Leia couldn't help her own puzzled expression. Didn't he know? Or were the Corillian Jedi that shunned by the rest of the order? She'd never gotten that idea from the history she'd read herself or from what Luke and Corran had said.

"Yes," she nodded slowly.

Ani looked down, resting a thoughtful hand on his chin as he sifted through this supposedly new information. Eventually he shrugged, looked back at her and cracked a smile. "That's something I'll have to check out."

She suppressed a sigh and nodded. Well, so much for him not looking into it and blowing their cover. Still, by the time he got around to checking into it, she and Han would be long gone. Off to Alderaan. That thought almost immediately lifted her spirits.

Her strange mood-swings caught her attention and she frowned. Even during the highest point of her cycle she wasn't usually this bad. Was this another side-affect of her submersion in the Force?

"So, Luke, huh? What was he like?" Ani's question broke through her thoughts and she turned her attention back to him. Somehow she found talking to him very easy and only hesitated for a moment before telling him all about her amazing brother and what he was willing to do—heavily edited, of course.

When she stumbled back to bed not 45 minutes later, she fell asleep almost immediately.

xXx

"Please," Obi-wan begged the Force under his breath. "Please let Anakin be in range." He had to get his message to the Temple. They had to know about the Separatists and Dooku and Genosis! If he couldn't get through... He _really _did not want to think about it. The Senate would be completely blindsided by any attack from the Separatists. Countless lives could be lost...

He almost melted with relief when he got a confirming response but frowned when he saw where Anakin's signal came from. Tatooine? What were they doing on Tatooine? He could guess...

Brushing the thought aside, he focused on his current problem and sent the request to Anakin, asking for a relay. It took him almost a standard hour to establish a connection, but finally it got through.

Of course it would be right about that time that the natives of the planet found his ship and attacked him. With the numbers they quite literally swarmed him with, he knew there was no way he could get out of it. Still he fought as best he could until a stun beam finally got through his defense. As the world faded to darkness, he could only hope his message had gotten through.

xXx

Thanks to Kuroi Atropos for the awesome beta-reading!


	8. Revelations

Anakin listened to his master's recording with what he hoped was a blank face. He'd probably failed to maintain it there at the end judging from Padme's reaction. His heart clenched up as Obi-wan drew his lightsaber and backed out of sight only to be followed by, several strange, bug-like pursuers and droids as they zoomed through and out of the holorecorder's view. Okay, he epically failed as he couldn't seem to stop himself from jumping up.

Anakin listened to his master's recording with what he hoped was a blank face. He'd probably failed to maintain it there at the end judging from Padme's reaction. His heart clenched up as Obi-wan drew his lightsaber and backed out of sight only to be followed by, several strange, bug-like pursuers and droids as they zoomed through and out of the holorecorder's view. Okay, he epically failed as he couldn't seem to stop himself from jumping up.

"I'm going after him!"

Padme bit her lip. "I thought the first thing he said was to retransmit his message to Coruscant."Anakin couldn't help but look pained, but he managed to calm down.

"Yeah, you're right, you're right," he muttered.

"We can transmit it from here," Padme said slowly, "but if someone intercepts it..."

"It' will lead them straight back to my family." And didn't that feel strange but surprisingly good to say? "And the Jedi masters will probably be able to figure out why we're here," Anakin finished dejectedly. Then he looked up at his companion. "We're not coming back, are we." He didn't say it as a question.

"Probably not," Padme conceded.

"What about Han and Leia?" Anakin asked. He had managed to talk her into letting them come along earlier, although it hadn't been easy (he suspected he only won because she liked them and wanted to help them out as much as he did), and the older couple had been informed that morning. This changed everything, though.

"What about us?" Han's voice had them both spinning around. He held up his hands at their reproachful looks. "Sorry, I was just coming out to ask you when we're leaving, but I guess you've got to go."

"I'm sorry, Han," Pamde said as she stood gracefully. "It's a potential battlefield and we can't drag you into our mess."

"I overheard you two discussing most of it," the older man nodded. "Look, I'm gonna ask you not to tell my wife this, but I _really _don't want to go into debt with the hutts just to get Leia back to her home planet for a day or two. If you let us come along, we can just stay on the ship or something. You can even drop us off at the nearest planet that isn't hutt controlled or whatever and rush off to save your friend, but...well, we're also pretty good in a fight, no matter how old we look."

Anakin blinked in surprise, which soon faded into skepticism. "You're offering to come on a rescue mission of unknown difficulty for someone you've never met before?"

Han shrugged. "If you're giving us a ride, the least we can do is lend a hand."

The Jedi shook his head. "No, I'm not letting you put yourselves in danger after you've done so much for Mom already."

"Look," Han said, folding his arms across his chest, "you don't know how much of a favor taking us to to Alderaan is. It means a lot to me and even more to Leia. If that means we have to get our hands a little dirty on the way, we're both alright with that."

"Just not too dirty," Leia's voice came in behind Han and she walked up through the ramp. "What's taking you so long? And why would we have to get our hands dirty?"

Anakin and Padme exchanged glances before Anakin finally spoke up. "My...mentor is in trouble and is probably being held captive."

"How do you know he's not dead?" Han asked just a tad too bluntly for Anakin.

"We have a training bond," he said, his voice cooling significantly. "He's not dead."

Leia looked up at Han who returned her gaze. They seemed to have a silent conversation for a few moments before they both nodded their heads.

"If you don't want us to help, we'll stay on the ship," Han said. "But I wouldn't mind a good fight and Leia is better than she thinks," at that she swiped his arm half playfully, although Han only acknowledged it with a slight wince, "so we'd be happy to help you out if we can."

Padme frowned. "I don't like this Ana—Ani," she said to the padawan.

Anakin frowned. "So you'd rather rush off and put yourself in danger but you don't like it when others want to do the same for you?"

Han grinned and turned to Leia. "Have I mentioned that I like this kid?"

"It's not their problem," Padme responded. "We shouldn't ask them to put their lives on the line for something they're not involved in at all."

"Hey," Han interjected. "If it's your problem, it's our problem. Besides, you didn't ask. We offered."

"That's what friends and allies are for, right?" Leia asked pointedly.

Padme still didn't seem happy as she looked between the three of them, but she did sigh and back down (twice in two days, that had to be some kind of record!). "Very well. You can come along, but as backup only! If Ani's Master is captured, I'd like to try and find a diplomatic solution that won't lead us to war."

"Let's go say goodbye to my mom," Anakin said, sounding resigned as he strode past Han and Leia, leading the other three down the loading ramp and back into the hot, morning sunlight of Tatooine. He really did not want to let his mother go again, but he was not going to give up Obi-wan either.

xXx

Much to Anakin's consternation, the Jedi Council informed him to keep Padme safe and stay wherever they were. To his credit, he tried to follow their order. He really did. Of course, Padme wouldn't stand for that. Neither, it seemed, would Han or Leia, although neither one of them heard the actual message. Anakin might like them and be grateful to them, but he didn't trust them like he trusted Padme (he'd barely known them for more than a few days after all). Plus, he didn't want to explain their presence to the Jedi Council.

Still, after consulting with Padme, they'd decided that it would be safe enough to tell the older couple at least where he and Padme were going as they were dragging the older couple along on their highly-discouraged mission. They decided not to tell them exactly what planet they would be heading to (they stuck to the sector and figured that would be good enough), but they did confirm that they would trying to secure the release of Ani's Jedi Master after all, that they hoped to rescue him in time and that several Jedi would eventually come as backup. He wasn't too surprised when they insisted that they would be fine with whatever he and Padme decided and even suggested that they should leave immediately if 'Ani's Master' was in that much trouble. Anakin couldn't help but feel grateful for all of them and they'd set off for Genosis before the first Tatooine sun had reached its peak.

After they jumped to light speed, the four of them settled into the relatively small ship with a comfortable but anticipatory quiet. Half-an-hour into the flight, a nervous (he was _not_ twitching) Anakin asked if Han knew anything about ships. One thing led to another, and not five minutes later, Anakin was leading Han into the engine rooms to show him the modifications he'd made. It wasn't often he came across someone who really appreciated his mechanical know-how. Obi-wan could be grateful for it (when he wasn't annoyed beyond all reason), but he only rarely understood.

Han looked at the small improvements with a critical eye, but he seemed impressed.

"Not bad, kid," he said finally.

Anakin frowned. "I'm not a kid, you know."

Han laughed. "I had a friend who I called 'kid' for a while. He told me the exact same thing." Anakin raised an eyebrow. "It didn't work for him, and really won't for you." At that, Han reached over to ruffle his hair like he was twelve or something. Anakin managed to dodge the older man's hand, but only just. After a moment of consideration, he rolled his eyes and moved on to explain the next upgrade.

xXx

Padme found herself and Leia alone as they watched Anakin lead Han into the engine room, talking excitedly the whole time.

The Senator shook her head and glanced over at Leia. "I don't think I'll ever understand," she said with a mock-pleading sigh.

Leia laughed. "You should hear my children go off about it. Even my daughter. All three of them just had a knack for machinery and flying." Her smile faded a bit. "Well, maybe not my oldest son. He was more into pets and the life around him. He still loved to fly though."

Padme leaned forward, wondering if she should ask after them or not. It seemed to be a painful subject, and the word 'had' was never a good sign when talking about children, but something about the way the other woman spoke convinced her that she wouldn't mind. Finally she gathered her courage and simply spoke up.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?"

Leia didn't respond for several seconds, and Padme feared she may have read the situation wrong. Before she could apologize though, the older woman opened her mouth and spoke.

"My oldest made some very...painful decisions. He was killed for them."

Padme leaned back in her seat and fixed her eyes on her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, only daring to speculate and suspecting that any scenario she came up with fell short of reality.

Leia shrugged nonchalantly, but Padme could see her hands clenching each other in a white-knuckled grip. "My youngest died saving the people around him. A good many of our friends and family would not have survived if it weren't for him."

Padme felt an ache rise in her heart with the sympathy she suddenly felt for this woman. She didn't know how she would take losing children, but even if her nieces were to die...the thought tore at her heart. It must be so much worse for a parent to lose one child let alone two.

"My daughter...well, she and I have never been as close as I would like (although it has gotten much better recently), and I don't much care for her taste in men, but I've always been so proud of her and how she never gives up, even when she so desperately wants to."

"She sounds lovely."

Leia smiled nostalgically, her eyes gaining a far-away sheen. "Yes. She's very unique and up front...and absolutely incredible."

"It must have been hard for you to lose her brothers like that."

"Oh, yes," the older woman whispered, returning her thoughts to the here and now. "Losing Anakin was hard, but losing Jacen like that... He and Jaina were twins, you see."

Padme blinked, surprised at the familiar name. "Anakin? You named your son Anakin?"

Leia must have caught the note in her voice because she looked up warily. "Yes. I named him after... Never mind. That isn't important."

But Padme's curiosity was peaked. "After who?"

The other woman's face darkened significantly. "My birth father."

Padme started at the vehemence in Leia's voice. "You don't sound like you much care for him."

"I don't," Leia confirmed. "My brother was convinced that I should forgive him for everything he did, and to an extent I agree, it's just... With everything that happened with Jacen, I can't help but think none of it would have come about if my biological father hadn't...well, if he'd made better choices. I feel he set a standard for his descendants to fall to." She said bitterly. Then, after a moment, she sighed.

"It's funny, I thought I'd gotten over my Daddy issues years ago, but being here...now..." She trailed off and looked around as if she would see the object of her ire walk in at that very moment. "I named my son after him to redeem the name and celebrate the good man that our father used to be. It helped."

She suddenly seemed to realize something and turned to Padme. "Do you like the name Anakin then?"

Padme blinked and felt a slight blush color her cheeks. "Er, yes, you could say that I do."

Leia laughed. "Then it seems you've found the name for your first son."

"Oh, no," Padme shook her head and ignored the red growing on her face. "If I ever get married, and we decide to have children, I already have my first son's name picked out. He'll be named after my grandfather, Lucas, possibly Luke."

"Lucas?" Leia nodded as she considered the name. "Sounds distinguished. And what if you have a daughter?"

Padme smiled. "Actually, it's funny you would ask that. My great aunt's name was Leia. She was an amazing person who helped bring to pass many of my planet's most just laws. I look up to her a great deal and have patterned my own political career after hers. I want to name my first daughter Leia after her."

Leia smiled. "Lucas or Leia," she said thoughtfully, and then she seemed to suddenly understand something as her smile vanished and her face paled considerably right before Padme's eyes. Then she looked over at Padme, her stunned eyes wide with realization.

"Leia?" Padme asked, reaching out a hand to place on the other woman's shoulder.

"It...couldn't be..." she said so softly Padme almost didn't hear her. Then Leia looked up at her with an virtually hungry gaze, almost as if she was seeing Padme for the first time. It was unnerving. "It just..."

And then she was up, practically lunging for the door to the engine room.

"HAN!"

xXx

Anakin would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying himself, even if Han tended to be a bit of a pain. He was open and honest and seemed to find amusement in the tiniest happenstances. Anakin found it refreshing and such a difference from the cautious (downright paranoid in Anakin's opinion) atmosphere encouraged by the Jedi. Han seemed to have few cares in the universe, and his nonchalant but caring attitude was nothing short of entertaining.

Anakin had just begun to explain the changes he'd made to the power couplings when a shout had them both rounding to look at the door.

"HAN!"

"Leia?" Han asked worriedly, already starting towards the door. "What is it?"

Anakin followed on the older man's heels and made it to the door in time to hear Padme's worried voice asking what was wrong. Leia looked as if she'd just seen a ghost and it had promised to take her first born. She seemed weak and Anakin could feel her distress through the Force. He actually had to pause and make sure the presence belonged to the same woman he'd spoken with earlier because of how much more..._there_ it was. Firm and commanding, it spoke of a deep connection with the Force that almost made Anakin's mind reel. And the connection seemed so different from the normal Jedi's connection, and yet it felt so familiar... He couldn't explain it.

He had to suddenly wonder if she herself had had Force training, from her brother perhaps? If she'd been hiding her presence before, then that spoke of shielding, and she would have to be at least a senior Padawan or young Knight level to have that level of training. Of course, she could just be distressed enough to broadcast her connection. He decided to file the information away for later and watched worriedly as Han ran over to support her.

"What's wrong?" Han asked as he reached his wife. "Did Goldenrod pick something up?"

Anakin wasn't sure if that was meant as a joke or not. Ever since Han had met C-3PO, he'd called the droid 'Goldenrod', despite its pewter color. When Anakin had asked why Han insisted on doing that, the older man had just shrugged and said that he'd always imagined protocol droids in shiny, metallic skins. He'd also seemed to take an aversion to the droid from the get go, and from Threepio's less than welcoming remarks, the 'feeling' was mutual.

"N...no," Leia managed to say, her voice breathy and far weaker than anything Anakin had ever heard from the woman. "I...we were talking about children. I asked Corde what she would name her children and," she paused and looked over at Padme, "could you please repeat what you just told me?"

Anakin bristled a little when he noticed how upset Padme seemed as well, but he quickly pushed it aside to wait for an explanation. He couldn't begin to wonder just what about that kind of conversation could have possibly set Leia off.

Bemused, Padme shot one more worried look at the older woman but nodded. "We were discussing childrens' names. I told her I was considering Luke or Lucas, after my Grandfather, if it's a boy and Leia, after my Great Aunt, if it's a girl. Why is that so important?"

But whatever it was, Han seemed to pick up on it too because, although Han wasn't facing Anakin, the tension that shot through the man's frame was drastically obvious.

"Wait," he looked down at his wife. "You can't mean..."

Leia nodded her head.

"Oh."

"What's going on here?" Anakin asked, covering his worry with annoyance.

"Exactly what I'd like to know," Padme said with a firm nod and hands on her hips. Leia looked up and stared at Padme with such a pained, nostalgic expression that it made both of the younger people back down. It was strange, because Anakin had seen Padme face down just about everyone from two separate Galactic Chancellors to Jedi Masters on the Council, but this expression from Leia had Padme shifting far more uncomfortably than at any time Anakin had seen her previously. The expression held more than a little pain and shock. Han, on the other hand, stared at Padme with a sort of resigned pity.

Then, quite suddenly, Leia's gaze suddenly snapped over to Anakin and she stared in a horrified stupor at the Jedi.

"Oh, Force," she whispered. Anakin did not like that expression. It seemed accusing and spoke of betrayal.

"Leia?" Han asked, turning his attention back to his wife.

"Han...our youngest son...what was his nick name?"

A flash of pain passed across Han's face, but he answered the question...or at least he began to. "Ani..." he said, but faded off as that same expression of horrified realization crossed his face and he looked over at Anakin too.

"No," he said in a voice that sounded all too pleading and held more than a little denial. "No...it can't be, Leia..."

Okay, this was really starting to get on Anakin's nerves. His fists clenched at his sides as he stepped forward in what he hoped was a show of strength.

"What's going on here?!"

Leia's lips had set into a thin line as she stared (almost glared) at him. "Anakin Skywalker?" she asked, her voice cracking with strain.

Anakin tensed and felt his hand twitch for his lightsaber.

"How did you know my name?" he demanded, not backing down in the face of their sudden mood swings. He wouldn't admit how much the abrupt and obviously growing anger entering the couples' gazes had thrown him off. "Did Mom tell you?"

The Solos didn't answer. Instead Han seemed to realize that Leia was about to tear through his shirt and into his skin with her grip because he deliberately shifted so that he was between Leia and Anakin.

"Leia," he said, obviously straining to keep his voice calm, but he couldn't keep the worry out of his voice for a moment.

The older woman shook her head and didn't answer.

"You're really worrying me," Padme cut in. "What's wrong? Why are you so angry at Anakin?" Anakin nodded in agreement. Had he judged these two wrong? Were they really Separatist spies or bandits or something? Did they have something against Jedi?

First thing was first, though. If something was wrong, he had to protect Padme. He doubted Han or Leia would ever pose an actual threat to them given his level of skill, but he would feel better if Padme were closer. He also had a feeling her presence at his back would do wonders to soothe his puzzled worry. He rushed past the older couple and put himself between them and Padme.

Han apparently noticed the movement because he looked up at them, his jaw tight and his expression so confused and complicated that Anakin doubted he could begin to pick it apart. The hurt, betrayal and shock he felt through the Force weren't helping.

"I need to be alone," Leia said abruptly, her voice terse and far more strained than her husband's.

"Oh, no you don't," Han disagreed, turning his frown back at her.

"Fine, come with me," she responded shortly. "But I need to clear my head."

Sighing, Han turned to Padme and Anakin again. "Give us a few minutes. We'll explain when we can."

With that he followed Leia into the bedroom and shut the door.

Anakin kept watching the door for several seconds after it closed. Then he turned and saw Padme's concerned expression and put a hand on her shoulder. She bit her lip and wrung her hands before looking up at him..

"Anakin," she asked softly, "what was that?"

Anakin felt his hand tighten on her shoulder. "I wish I knew," he responded, sounding far more tense and worried than he would like. After a few minutes, he turned towards the other end of the ship. He too needed some time away from them to 'collect his thoughts,' as Obi-wan would say. "Come to the cock pit. Let's leave them alone for a few minutes."

"Is that a good idea?" Padme asked, snapping into her Senator mode almost visibly, and Anakin could tell she was about to argue her point. "What if something's wrong? Or do you think they might have known my family? She recognized those names... Do they have history with Naboo? Or the Trade Federation? Or the Jedi even? Why did they react to your real name like that?"

Anakin shook his head, her anxiety rubbing off onto him no matter how he tried to ignore it. "I don't know, Padme," he said quietly, his voice tight.

"Somehow they figured out who you are through me—through my families' names, Anakin. They know us. Both of us."

Anaking didn't answer, his lips tightening even more as he banished the anger growing from his confusion and other negative emotions to the Force.

"Why would they be looking for us, Anakin?" Padme asked, a sense of denial creeping into her own voice. "Do you think they might sympathize with the Seperatists?" she asked worriedly.

Anakin stared into her eyes for a few moments, knowing his face looked blank but unable to muster any motivation to chase the mask away. "They don't," he heard himself say finally.

"How do you know that?"

He frowned and looked over at the bedroom door. Spies wouldn't have helped to save his mother without knowing who he was, and they hadn't once mentioned Padme's real name. That didn't mean they didn't know it, but they certainly didn't flaunt it. And their emotions were roiling like a sea in a storm, most of them negative and all of them dealing with confusion, shock or denial. Plus it didn't feel right. "I just do," he said finally.

Thankfully that proclamation seemed to help calm her down. "Alright," she said after a moment. They stared at the door for a few more minutes before he turned and left for the front of the ship, Padme following on his heels.

xXx

A bit short, but there you have it. The next chapter will deal mainly with reactions and then we'll start getting into infiltrations and fights and rescues and confrontations... Yeah, it should be fun. *Evil grin here*

Thank you SO much to Kuroi_Atropos who beta'd this for me! :D


	9. Chapter 8

_Summary (Skip if you remember): Leia and Han found some preparations set up by Obi-wan that sent them into the past, just before the Clone Wars era. They ended up on Tatooine, saved Shmi and then met Ani and Corde, Shmi's Jedi-trained son and the woman he was protecting. In thanks for rescuing Shmi, Ani and Corde offered to take them to Alderaan. While in hyperspace, Leia found out that Ani and Corde were really her parents and freaked out. _

_xXx_

If Leia had been aware of her body (or anything besides the swirling shock in her head), she might have noticed how utterly sick she felt. Her knees shook and her stomach ached in a nauseous, throbbing beat. She felt simultaneously too hot and too cold while her neck and face burned—as if she'd contracted the Schandarian Flu.

Ani was Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader.

Ani was Darth Vader.

Ani was a monster.

Except, Ani was...well, Ani. The dichotomy hurt her head and for once, she couldn't quite grasp the revelation.

He was the man who had destroyed the Jedi and helped to create the Empire. He was the man who had turned his back on everything good and become a Sith. The man who had no qualms performing and supporting genocide; who had hunted her down time and time again; who had tortured and drugged her for information; who had held her back as her home planet exploded in front of her eyes—taking with it almost everything she'd ever known and loved; who had frozen Han in carbonite; who had tortured her brother's friends just to lure him into a trap; who had tried (multiple times) to turn her brother to the Dark Side; who had killed so many members of the rebellion—countless friends—just because they dared to disagree with the Empire; and so many more atrocities that she couldn't name them all.

He was the man who had both given her life and tainted her entire family line. The man she tried desperately to not hate while still being unable to let go of her resentment towards him.

He was the man who was now a boy, just coming into his adulthood. The man who fell in love with Padme Amidala and who had defied the Jedi Order's mandates to be with her. The man who had been so concerned with Leia's own well being the previous night, simply because she'd been there with him. The man she'd discussed so many...

Oh, Force, she'd told Darth Vader about her life! Willingly! And Luke! Oh, she'd told him all about Luke!

Just what had she done?! She should have been able to figure it out! All of the clues had been there from the beginning! Right there! In front of their blasted noses! They were so obvious now that she looked at it. The fact that they'd been on Tatooine and that Luke had grown up with his father's brother on Tatooine (he'd told her their names once years and years before, but didn't seem to like to talk about his childhood and didn't mention them often, so at least she couldn't expect herself to know them that way, but still...) because after all, how many Jedi came from Tatooine of all places? And why hadn't she caught on to 'Ani's' name earlier? Really, just how distracted had she been to not see it all?!

And why had she _trusted_ him? Had she grown so soft as to simply confide in the first person they met? The first person to give them a kind word? Or had he somehow tricked them? She wanted to believe the latter...desperately.

It was everything she could do to keep her emotions in check, fearing that if she let go, it would destroy her surroundings—and that was _not _a light trait_._ She's always thought such reactions to anger were beneath someone of her standing and education. If something went wrong, she would simply throw herself into fixing it. That was how she dealt with her problems; she worked. She always had. Except nothing she did could fix this. Nothing could begin to even touch this level of pain and for once, she had no release. No contacts she could get ahold of, no brother to rely on, she couldn't practice her Jedi training for fear of giving herself away...Force, she couldn't even distract herself with relevant senatorial problems as she didn't know what half of the 'current' problems consisted of. No Falcon to work on; no nothing.

"Leia!" Han's voice finally broke through her thoughts and she looked up at him, realizing he'd spoken her name multiple times. He'd called her back to herself and she finally managed to take in her surroundings. They stood in the sleeping area of the ship. It had several good-size beds built into the wall, usually for the servants or handmaidens to sleep on, and one larger one in the middle for the dignitary the ship belonged to. Leia had seen many similar ship quarters throughout her lifetime, although few seemed so lavish, even the ones she'd seen on Alderaan. Her home planet had always been a bit more conservative than many other outer core and mid-rim planets.

She'd gone to the far side of the room and now leaned heavily against the wall, arms wrapped around her belly and hands gripping the opposite elbows so tightly she could almost hear the nails ripping into her shirt. It wouldn't tear that easily, but she still felt it wise to consciously force herself to relax somewhat.

Ana—Vader? The Jedi's presence had receded to the other end of the ship and only Han stood in the room with her. From the expression on his face and what emotions she could feel through the Force from him, he was torn between worry for her and shock from the revelation himself. Just seeing him there calmed her raging, conflicting emotions somewhat. The fact that she was not alone in her shock, that Han could at least begin to comprehend what she was going through made things so much easier. His presence with her suddenly felt like such a respite that while it didn't begin to fix the problems

they'd run into, she couldn't help but feel a relief so great her knees gave out.

Something occurred to her at that moment that she'd overlooked before: Ben Kenobi had meant for the message to come to her alone. Only she was supposed to come back in time—no one else, but somehow she'd dragged her husband with her, whether through sheer force of will or the bond they shared that had taken so much damage over the years and come out stronger for it.

The fact that she didn't have to face her parents (_her living, breathing parents!)_ alone somehow made all the difference in the universe. Han was there for her and the overwhelming, smothering sensation she'd felt only moments before lessened at this knowledge, making situation bearable. Especially when he rushed towards her and held her in his arms.

"Oh, Han," she hiccuped as she threw her arms around him. "Why did this happen? Why did we have to run into _him_? Of all people in the universe..."

"The Force has a pretty nasty sense of humor," he agreed bitterly. "I can't... Leia, I can't see how that kid out there... There's got to be a mistake. They're not the same person."

Leia's laugh was bitter this time. "The Dark Side does that to people," she muttered harshly, "in case you hadn't noticed." Han tensed, but Leia didn't move. She needed his strength. They'd leaned on each other, both physically and emotionally, often enough for her to know that she hadn't crossed any line, although she'd come close.

"Alright," he said finally, although he still sounded reluctant. "So those are your parents out there. What do we do about it?"

Leia clenched her fists tighter. "Why are you asking me? I don't know, Han. I just...I can't..." She couldn't seem to think or talk or do much of anything, really. Apparently she had been out of diplomatic practice for far too long.

Finally, after several seconds, she felt her mouth open.

"I hate him, Han," she said softly.

She didn't have to feel his disapproval in the Force to know he'd frowned. "But Luke said—"

"I know," she cut in, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I know, Han, but I can't help it. That man...he hurt you and Luke, and tortured me and...do you know what mind-probe torture entails? They bring in a droid carrying so many different substances it could very well be a portable cocktail bar. Then they stick a needle as _long as my forearm _into your neck! Then you have to try and think through the pain they inflict because the drugs not only serve to lesson inhibitions, but they increase your sensitivity to to physical stimuli. After that the only thing that really seems to register is the pain. So you sit there, just hurting and all you want is for it to stop and you can't even _think_ that because your brain can't function."

She took a deep breath. "I won't say that was the worst experience I've ever had in my life," no, that would be losing Jacen to the dark, followed so closely by Anakin's death, "but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy..." She paused and took a deep breath, suddenly realizing that last statement wasn't true. "With three exceptions." Vader, Palpatine and possibly Vergere. Oh, there had been other people she'd despised throughout her life, but those three had the honor of first, second and third places on her list of people she particularly despised.

Palpatine would always take the top spot, but her personal connection to Vader ensured his placement in her top three. Perhaps it was because of her upbringing or because of the fact that she'd been so helpless for the first few years of her life while the Emperor and his right-hand dragon had ruled with a cruel, durocrete fist. Or both. Either way, her hatred for Vader had been rekindled, and that scared her.

"I thought you had come to terms your... heritage," Han muttered.

"I thought I had, too," she whispered back. But then she'd realized that one of the people she'd truly _connected _with in this time period, who she'd been willing to trust when she'd gotten up that morning, was destined to be a monster. A monster that would taint his children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. A monster that was destined to kill almost everyone he'd come in contact with indiscriminately—including the woman that he was now protecting.

Yes, Leia had to admit that she hated him, and what was worse...she didn't want to fight it. And that...that was dangerous.

But at the same time, she was having the same problem as Han. It was almost impossible for her to associate Anakin Skywalker with Darth Vader now that she knew each of them separately. And yet, she knew her anger and resentment towards Vader would eventually leak over and cloud her feelings for Anakin too. She wasn't sure that was a bad thing.

Suddenly, she realized just what she wanted.

She wanted him gone. Gone so far, far away that Vader's influence would never touch Luke or her children in the first place. The thought had never really crossed her mind before because the thought of her ever meeting her father again was ludicrous to say the least. If the past had stayed in the past, she could have happily continued to live her life without ever knowing or realizing that she actually had not and would probably never really forgive Anakin Skywalker for becoming Darth Vader and all that that transformation entailed.

The only person Leia could ever hate more than him was Palpatine for his being the source of everything that had really gone wrong in the universe (with few exceptions) and maybe Vergere for starting Jacen on the dark path. Because she that had, no matter what anyone else said. Leia was convinced of that.

"Alright," Han said suddenly, "here's what we're going to do. We're going to come up with some sob story to explain this and then we're going to smile and nod and treat them like we have been until we get to Alderaan. Then we can forget we ever met them."

Leia was already shaking her head by the time Han finished. "I don't know what I would do if I walked out there right now, Han. And even though part of me wants to forget," rather desperately, "I can't. Just knowing that we share the same universe with him and Palpatine again..."

Han's sudden swearing had her glancing up at him, some of his previous worry transferring to her. "Han?"

"That slimy old codger's alive right now, isn't he," he muttered as if just realizing this. He looked more than a little green at the thought. Leia couldn't blame him.

Then his expression turned thoughtful...almost mischievous. The change was so sudden, it had Leia blinking in confusions. "Let's change it, then," he said. "We'll change it so the Jedi aren't wiped out, so that Anakin never becomes that monster and we take out Palpatine."

Leia couldn't help but just blink as she stared at him. "And how do you propose we do that?" she asked dryly. "Father...Bail," she had to look down and close her eyes to keep her emotions under control. "The man I will always consider to be my father," she finally amended, "made sure that I studied what really happened before the rise of the Empire. Palpatine came into power and was a very well respected man long before the Clone Wars even started. It had been so long since I'd studied it that I was having a hard time remembering before, but now I'm sure of it. Palpatine has been elected the Supreme Chancellor and he'll use his position to gain power during the Wars."

Han shrugged. "Then we stop the war."

His suggestions seemed to be getting more difficult instead of the other way around. "How?"

At this, her husband smiled roguishly. "I was alive for the Clone Wars, you know. I was young, but I still remember that there were a few people heading the side against the Old Republic. There was an old guy, and a cyborg general...I think."

Leia nodded reluctantly. "Yes, you're right. A man named..." she paused for a moment as she searched her memories for the proper name before she finally came up with it. "Dooku! He used to be a Jedi but left the Order—I never had the interest in him to look further, unfortunately—and Grevious, although he doesn't come in until long after the wars start."

"So we stop this Duke guy and the Cyborg and we're good."

"Dooku was—is a Count," Leia put in, feeling a small smile come to her face despite the situation. He'd probably messed up their names and titles just to get a smile out of her. It was a sweet thought that she greatly appreciated.

"Whatever," Han said, rolling his eyes and dismissing her correction with a wave of his hand. "We just track him down and he'll be history with your lightsaber skills."

Leia frowned again. "Han, I may be able to hold my own, but these are people that have been training for life. And from what I recall, Dooku was one of the best."

"And how many people did you fight who had training like that?" Han asked pointedly.

"Not many," Leia insisted stubbornly. "And I'll never reach any serious level. I'm not like Luke, who can pick up a form well enough within a few years to fight enemies who have been training since birth."

"What about Alema Rar?"

Leia's frown deepened. "That was an exception."

"Or Tahiri?"

"She was just a kid!"

"I know Saba's said that you can stand up to any Jedi Knight and probably most Masters," Han went on.

"She was exaggerating."

"Luke confirmed it."

"He's my brother. Of course he'll say that, Jedi Master or not."

The ex-smuggler sighed. "You're too stubborn for your own good, Princess," he muttered.

That smile found its way back onto her face. "You're one to talk," she returned.

They sat there in a far more comfortable silence for several minutes while each collected their thoughts.

"So," Han finally spoke up, "what are we going to do?"

Leia sighed. "I can't face him right now, Han. I'm too..." emotional? Fragile? Broken? Angry? None of those really fit at the moment, although they came close. She knew Han would understand. He'd been that way after Chewie and Anakin. She needed her space, and he knew it.

"Don't do anything too stupid," he said, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "'Cause there's a kid on Corellia right now who will end up being a scoundrel who needs a princess to rescue. He can't do that if that princess is never born."

Leia snorted, half with adoring laughter, half with annoyance. "Alright, I won't kill him. Satisfied?"

He actually seemed a little taken aback, but he gathered his wits quickly and nodded. "And we'll make plans to take out this Dooku guy."

"Palpatine will just find another way to start a war," Leia pointed out cynically.

Han just shrugged. "Then we'll buy ourselves a few months and use that time to figure out how to take out the old codger."

Leia smiled, this time fully and genuinely. With his confidence (arrogance) she'd begun to feel as if they could do this. They could change time—change history by stopping wars, preventing Anakin from making the worst decision of his life, and taking out the leaders of the army bent on creating chaos. They were impossible tasks, but between her Skywalker genes and his Corellian luck, she really had started to believe that it was possible.

For now, though, they just had to deal with Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, hopefully without any deaths and without preventing Leia's future birth.

xXx

Anakin and Padme sat in a tense silence as they stared out into hyperspace.

"Any luck?" Padme asked finally.

"In thinking of a reason for Leia to act like that?" Anakin asked grumpily. "No."

"Me neither," the Senator muttered. It galled her to no end because she normally could read people so well.

Anakin didn't answer, so Padme decided to voice her own thoughts.

"Something about my family's names startled her," she said.

"She looked more scared than startled," Anakin muttered.

Padme conceded the point with a nod and continued. "And from there, she somehow figured out your name. The only connections we have are recent—and supposedly secret—or ten years ago."

"But I never met your family."

"But I did tell them about you," she pointed out.

The Jedi's expression brightened considerably. "You did?"

Padme glanced at him smoothly. "Of course! Everyone wanted to know about the little boy who accidentally saved the world."

"Oh," Anakin's face fell. "Right." Padme grimaced. She hated doing that to him, but she also did not want to encourage him either.

"So if she somehow knows my family, she might have realized who I am. Since you're one of the two Jedi still alive," they both grimaced slightly at that, "that my family knows I've met, she could have somehow figured out your name from there."

"But then why did she seem so upset?" Anakin asked, his voice laced with genuine hurt.

"She wasn't angry with me," Padme said. "She seemed more sad or horrified when she looked at me, like she felt sorry for me. Could it have to do with the Trade Federation blockade after all?"

Anakin snorted. "They don't seem like they'd support something like that."

"It doesn't mean they don't," the former Queen rebutted.

"But you had just as much to do with the fall of the Blockade as I did," Anakin pointed out, his voice sounding frustrated. "More even. Why would they be upset with me about that and not you?"

Padme nodded in puzzled agreement.

"And she wasn't angry at me," Anakin said softly.

"What?" Padme asked confused and a little surprised at his comment.

The Jedi seemed to slump even further in his chair. "She hated me. I could feel it."

Which made no sense at all whatsoever. Leia and Anakin had seemed to get along rather well, after all. Actually, Padme thought they were somewhat alike in many ways. Leia had a sharp wit and a sharper tongue. She also, apparently, had a volatile temper. A very controlled one, but one nonetheless. At first, Leia had seemed like a kindred spirit to Padme, but then Anakin had told Padme about her Force signature and that she was a sensitive—probably untrained, but definitely a sensitive. And some of the things she'd said, her sense of humor (which could be quite witty, but also seemed to have a very cynical, almost morbid streak) somehow reminded her of Anakin. How she moved and her general thought process also held some reminders. Padme had originally chalked it up to their Force senses. She still did, actually, but she also felt like she was missing something.

"Last night," Anakin continued, "I was practicing my katas in the workshop. She came in and we ended up talking. She said I reminded her of her brother. It made her so sad...I'm pretty sure he died or something and his absence in the Force really got to her. She told me about him and I told her about my life at the Temple and... I thought I could trust her."

Padme heard the unspoken '_I thought we were friends_.' Anakin was too loyal to not take offense to her sudden change in attitude towards him.

"And then there's Han," Anakin went on, his hands tightening around the chair's arms and making his knuckles white. "At first he was shocked, and then..." He faded off and turned to look apprehensively at the woman sitting next to him. "He was scared of me, Padme. Why would he be scared of me?"

"Well, you are a Jedi," she said calmly. "Many people fear Jedi."

Anakin shook his head and turned to stare blankly at the control panel. "No, this was deeper...more personal. Besides, why wasn't he scared of me before? We never kept the fact that I'm a Jedi secret."

Padme thought for a moment, chewing absently on the inside of her lip, an old habit she had when she was thinking particularly hard on something. "Well, Leia did say her son was named Anakin. She said she named him after her father, who she didn't much care for."

The young Jedi glanced over at his companion. "Why would she name her son after someone she hates?"

The Senator shrugged. "She said she felt it would redeem the name, and it was an effort to forgive her father for something he'd done."

Then something occurred to Padme and she shot a sharp look at Anakin. "Do you think that maybe she was somehow thinking of her father when she looked at you? That she wasn't upset at you at all, but was just recalling bad memories about her family?"

Anakin frowned. "I don't know...it felt directed towards me."

"No, Corde's right," a voice behind them said. Both Padme and Anakin whipped their heads around to see Han standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the door frame. While he seemed like he was back to acting normally, something about his movements and the way he spoke felt distant and wary somehow.

Han shook his head and ran a hand through his graying hair. "Sorry about that. You see, Leia's twin brother's name is Luke. So when you told her about the names you'd picked out...it just kind of drove it home that he's not with us. And while you were on the subject of names, she figured out yours because of our son," he turned to Anakin with a friendly nod, but something in his eyes still screamed apprehension. Even Padme could see it, and she knew Anakin could too.

"Even my last name?" Anakin shot back, his own voice cold and challenging.

Han didn't take the bait. He simply shrugged. "Got that one from your mother."

The room fell into an even more strained silence, the only noise being the strum of the ships engines and other small, rhythmic, mechanical noises.

Finally Anakin spoke up again. "You're hiding something," he accused.

Han glanced at him and scrutinized him for a moment before shrugging. "Everyone has something to hide."

"Are you with the Separatists?" Anakin asked, his tone unchanged.

At this, Han blinked, seemingly taken aback. "What? No!"

"Do you sympathize with them?" Padme asked, her own voice rather cold.

"No," Han insisted, putting a hand up to the bridge of his nose. "Look, things might have gone sour here for a while, but we gave you our word that we'd help if we could. We're not going back on that. Leia just needs some time to come to grips. That's all. When are we going to be arriving?"

Anakin registered the change in subject but decided to allow it for now. After a moment he glanced at the chrono. "A little under a galactic standard hour."

Han nodded. "I'm going to go see if I can calm her down some more. Then we should probably touch base and figure out what we're doing. So, meet us in the common room in half an hour or so. That alright with you two?" It didn't sound like a question, but he did genuinely sound like he wanted to make sure they knew he wasn't trying to force them into anything.

"Yes," Padme said in agreement. "We'll see you then."

The first genuine smile of the conversation appeared on his face as he glanced over at Padme. It still seemed sad, but it was real.

"Alright," he said. Then he glanced over at Anakin, and although his smile vanished, his expression didn't seem hostile or angry. He nodded to the Jedi before turning and leaving.

After a few moments, Padme glanced over at Anakin.

"Do you believe him?" she asked.

Anakin scowled. "There was some truth to his words, but I can still sense that they're hiding something. Something big."

"Are they a threat to our plan to rescue Obi-wan?" she asked warily.

Anakin hadn't seemed to hear her as he was just staring back out and into hyperspace. Just before she opened her mouth to repeat the question, he spoke.

"No. I don't think they are."

Padme studied him for a moment before she sighed. "Then let's just focus on rescuing Obi-wan. We can worry about all of this later."

The Jedi nodded and turned back to the console. "Yeah."

Padme shook her head and sent a silent prayer to the Force or any deity who would listen that whatever Han and Leia were hiding wouldn't get them all killed.

xXx

Han walked calmly back through the ship, his mind in chaos. Now that he had a chance to think on his own, he realized just how convoluted the whole situation was. The entire universe, not to mention all of space and time, and they had to end up riding with the future Darth Vader of all people. Darth Kriffing Vader...who also happened to be his father-in law. He shuddered. It hadn't freaked him out to think of his familial relationship to that monster for years now, but being here and with him...

And the worst part was that Han still liked the kid! He was a good kid, smart, proud, and from the looks of it head-over-heels in love. Yeah, that was a mind screw. Darth Vader in love.

Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker.

Ugh, if this was giving _him_ a headache...well, no wonder Leia had come so unhinged.

Actually, he hadn't ever seen her that upset, and that scared him far more than Darth Vader ever would. 'Cause yeah, Vader could help the Empire blow up planets, he could torture and torment and he could freeze people in carbonite (still not one of his favorite memories), but he hadn't been able to turn Luke to the Dark Side. He could kill and eliminate and hurt, but he couldn't _break. _At least he couldn't break Luke or Leia or Han.

But when he'd followed Leia earlier, when he'd seen her standing on the other side of the sleeping room with her hands folded in front of her, his recent habit of associating her words and actions with their close friends and family had kicked in, but instead of seeing Jaina or Luke or even Amelia he'd seen Jacen. It hadn't been the stance or the words they'd spoken or anything like that...actually, he didn't know what it was, but seeing her just standing there in the dark (because she hadn't bothered to turn the

lights on)...

That had scared him. Terrified him. _Horrified_ him. Because he couldn't lose anyone else like that. Not again...and especially not Leia. He couldn't think of a worse fate for either of them (and that said so much).

Which was funny because now he just felt sorry for the kid he'd left in the cockpit. And he empathized with Padme (or Corde or whatever her name really was). If she'd seen the man she loved fall, if she'd been there...what must she have gone through? Leia said she remembered her mother being very beautiful but very sad. If what he suspected was true, that would have to be the understatement of the millennia.

He'd heard Luke speak about Jedi never acting out of anger and hatred again and again. He'd seen what just a few simple cracks in one's resolve could do. He knew how dangerous the Dark Side could be...and he would _not_ watch that happen to Leia.

He looked up at the door he'd been standing in front of for several seconds, his resolve hardening. He would be there for her and he would be there to stop her, no matter what. With a firm nod of his head, he opened the door and walked back inside the room.

xXx

It was a subdued and wary lot who met for a final briefing before they came out of hyperspace a half hour later. Leia participated only minimally, although everyone could tell she was indeed listening to everything being said.

At that point, Anakin and Padme explained the basics about the planet they were going to, the political unrest surrounding the situation, and their general idea (sneak in, get Obi-wan, sneak out and try to talk their way out of it if they got caught). If that didn't work, they would stall for time until the Jedi already being sent to Genosis would show up.

It was also generally agreed that unless Anakin and Padme did get caught, Han and Leia would remain on board the ship and not get involved. If they didn't hear from the younger pair after a galactic standard hour or so, then they could break in if they felt they could. Until then, they simply needed to wait.

Han and Leia agreed to the plan and then Anakin had left for the front of the ship so he could bring them out of light speed and Padme had followed, leaving the older couple alone in the main area.

Not twenty minutes later, they had landed and Han and Leia bid the younger pair farewell as they walked down the boarding ramp. Well, Han did. It seemed it was all Leia could do to simply be in their presence.

All in all, neither Padme or Anakin felt it was the best omen for what would come. As they walked into the access portal that would lead to the vents, Padme turned around and gave the couple one final look. It was difficult to see them through some of the fog and smoke from the exhaust vent, but she still felt uneasy about leaving Han and Leia behind. Anakin, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind much at all. He simply walked ahead and never once looked back.

xXx

Han stood by Leia as she watched her future parents disappear into an access way. Han could tell she didn't really know what to feel. It calmed him somewhat that she was undecided, because that meant she'd gotten to where she liked them too (at least marginally) and that was something.

"Artoo!" Leia suddenly called out, startling Han. The little astromech came rolling into the room a few seconds later, Threepio in tow.

"Mistress Leia," Threepio said over Artoo's beeps, "what would you like?"

"Follow them," she said, nodding towards the closing door.

"Excuse me?" Threepio said in a shocked and somewhat horrified voice. Artoo, it seemed, had no such compunction. With an acknowledging beep, he rolled right by them and down the ramp.

"B-but Mistress Leia, I have no idea how I would be of any use to anyone in the situation as I am now and—"

"Fine," Leia said dismissively. "You don't have to go."

"Why send Artoo after them?" Han asked.

Leia didn't answer for several seconds. Then she shook her head. "Premonition," she said. "I do want them to live."

Han blinked down at her. "Then shouldn't we go after them?"

Leia shook her head. "No. We'll stick to the plan."

Her husband didn't seem to happy, but he finally just shook his head and reached over to shut the ramp again. "Alright, Your Worship. If you think that's best."

"I do," she said.

"And the fact that you don't ever want to see Anakin Skywalker again has nothing to do with it, I'm sure," he said sarcastically.

Leia didn't answer. Instead she walked to the ship's cockpit and sat in the copilot's seat. Sighing, Han went to sit in the pilot's chair, but paused.

"You know," he said slowly, "that we're probably going to have to go in after them, right?"

"They survived the first time around," Leia said.

Han raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "But...?"

"But...I have a bad feeling."

"Kriff."

"Han," Leia said warningly.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Alright I'm going to see what I can dig up weapon wise around here."

Leia turned around and watched him for a moment before nodding. "I'll help."

For some reason, Han seemed particularly relieved.

xXx

Okay, so my beta reader has been SUPER busy lately and so I'm looking for someone to take her place for a little while. Here's what I'm looking for in a beta reader:

Someone who will call me on characterization, plot (and plot holes), flow of the story, repeated words, grammar and spelling. I'm not asking for a professional editor necessarily, I'm just looking for someone who can give me an honest opinion and help me with most of the above, someone I can bounce ideas off of if I need to reword something or add to/subtract from a scene.


	10. Chapter 9

The 'weapons' they'd dug up weren't much of anything. Han was able to find a few things he could fuse together to make some crude detonators, but they would be weak and small. They managed to find a few small blasters, but other than that there was not much.

"I'll bet there were more weapons on Alderaan," Han muttered as they looked over their rather lacking resources.

Leia shot him a half-glare and smacked his arm. Then she sighed, rolled her eyes and returned to the task at hand. "Alright, I'll take a few of these blasters and some chargers, but I'm going to leave most of them for you because I have my lightsaber. Are you almost done with those detonators?"

"Detonators?" Han asked dryly. "These are fireworks at best. Good for getting through a door or lighting anything flammable on fire but no big explosions." He sounded highly disappointed.

"Maybe we can find a weapon's storage?" Leia commented absently. "But it isn't a priority."

Han stopped wiring the circuit boards he was working with and glanced over at Leia. "What _is_ our priority then?"

Leia glanced back over at him with a mildly puzzled expression on her face. "Stopping the Clone Wars."

"Right, taking out Duke."

"And...keeping those two safe."

Han raised one eyebrow at her. "Is that 'care' I hear?"

Leia's glare radiated poison.

"Just making a point," Han said, raising his hands in the air in surrender before turning back to his work bench.

When Leia spoke again, her voice was quiet, but hard. "Anakin Skywalker isn't a threat," she said. "Not yet."

Han took one final glance at her and smiled as he continued with his work. He'd take toleration at the moment. It was a step in the right direction as far as he was concerned.

xXx

After an hour had passed, Leia and Han walked down the ramp, leaving strict instructions for Threepio to stay and watch the ship. After they watched the door raise and seal off the ship again, Han turned to Leia.

"Alright, Your Worship. What do we do now? Follow them into the access hatch?"

Leia frowned and regarded the door. After a few moments she closed her eyes. Han waited patiently for her to speak.

"No," she said finally. "No, we should climb."

Han looked up at the large stack surrounding them. "Seriously?" he asked incredulously. They really weren't as young as they used to be and that would not be the easiest climb for either one of them. Well, him. She could probably gizka-jump the entire thing.

A gasp had him turning to look worriedly at his wife. "Leia? What is it?"

"A presence," she said. "It's...dark, tainted...and very strong."

"A Sith?" Han asked worriedly.

Leia shook her head. "I don't know, but it doesn't feel like he's expecting us, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't know I'm here yet, but we'll have to be careful.

"Here," Leia said, handing a small box to him. It looked like it belonged on her utility belt.

"What's this?"

"A grappling hook...unless you want me to carry you?" she asked mischievously, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

Han scowled. "I'm fine," he said dryly.

Leia smiled at him and jumped into the air, foot seeming to catch the foothold necessary to leap up and across the stack to another one and in minutes she had reached the brim of the stack. Han could barely see her through the exhaust. Grumbling to himself about show-offs, he aimed the grappling hook at a likely looking crevice and shot it out. Making sure it was sturdy enough, he hit the reel and began his own ascent. The line held until he got to the anchor. He managed to jam his fingers into the crevice, pried the grappling hook loose and retracted it to shoot at the next crevice that would hold. Good thing the walls were so rough.

It took him considerably longer to get to the top of the stacks than it had Leia. When he finally managed to pull himself onto the lip, he glanced around. Through the strange-smelling fog coming out of all the vents, he managed to see a very dead-looking, rocky landscape. He couldn't see Leia on the lip's edge and figured she'd let herself down, and so followed suit. It was funny that he found it more difficult to get down than he had to get up, but as he'd done stunts like this many-a-time before, it wasn't anything that surprised him.

He figured it had taken him maybe a half an hour to get up one side and down the other. Not too bad, although if he'd been younger he was positive he would have cut that time in half. Han coughed the remaining exhaust fumes out of his lungs before deactivating the grappling hook and pocketing it.

"Han!" He heard Leia's voice off to the left and turned to see her motioning for him to come over towards her. He did so and joined her behind another stack. Not too far away a large, obviously sentient-made building rose from the mountains as if it had been carved out of them (which, in all honesty, it probably had). Several bug-like creatures flew around it in jerky motions.

"If the natives can fly, then we'll need to get inside as fast as we can," she whispered.

"Where are they all going?" he asked. There seemed to be two large masses. Most of the bug-creatures were heading towards an even taller, round structure only barely visible in the distance. The second, smaller and far more hurried group seemed to be heading to an entrance in the closest building.

"Anakin's Force signature is that way," Leia said, pointing towards the smaller group.

"It's closer anyway," Han said, shrugging.

"And there's a door," Leia said, pointing towards an opening not too far from them.

"We have a little cover from the exhaust," Han pointed out.

"It isn't much, though," Leia commented. Then she turned and smiled in challenge. "Shall we race?"

Han frowned. "You always win our races."

Leia smiled and shrugged. Then she grew serious again as she studied the entrance. Han watched as she closed her eyes for the second time and immersed herself in the Force. He trusted her completely and simply made sure he would be ready.

"Alright, go!" Leia said suddenly and Han shot out, pumping his hands and sprinting dead out. Leia was already a good meter ahead of him, but he didn't focus on her, his eyes fixed only on the door. He did see Leia wave her hand and watched the door open on its own. She shot inside and, several seconds later, he followed.

Once inside, he slumped against the wall and put his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

"I'm gettin' too old for this," he managed to gasp.

"Old, or just out of shape?" Leia asked, her voice teasing. Han felt a little more of the tension that had taken root in his stomach leak out.

"Says the Jedi," he muttered.

Leia grinned and placed a hand on his chest. He felt warmth spread through him from it as his breathing slowed. A few seconds later, he could breathe normally again and he smiled gratefully at her.

"Alright, where to next?" he asked. Leia closed her eyes again only to open them a few moments later.

"This way," she said, setting off down the hall to the left. "Quickly."

"Whatever you say, Princess," he said, falling into step behind her.

They soon discovered that there weren't any staircases and had to jump or grapple whenever they wanted to get to the next floor up. It was...rather difficult to do so without being seen, and Han doubted anyone without Force powers could have done it on their own. The inside of the building was a dark maze with dim lighting and far too many twists and turns. In no time, Han was already lost, but Leia kept leading confidently on.

Finally she slowed. He could hear what sounded like a loud voice that trilled and clicked in a very guttural manner. It didn't sound pleasant or friendly at all.

"Up there," Leia said quietly, pointing towards an opening above their heads. Han nodded and pulled out the grapple once more. Leia simply force jumped up to it and pulled herself into the small space. It was small and dusty and more than a little uncomfortable, but they could see what they'd come for. A large, dim room stretched out before them lit only by a large, circular window that let in a bright shaft of sunlight to illuminate the center of the floor and the two figures that stood there: Anakin and Padme. Seats and benches lined the walls filled almost to the brim with the strange bug-like beings.

On a large dias stationed on one side of the room, right before the shaft of sunlight, stood a very large bug creature, and he was the one speaking.

"What's he saying?" Han asked.

"I've never heard this language," Leia admitted with a frown.

"You are committing an act of war, Archduke," Padme said firmly and with no hint of fear. Han couldn't help but smile. That definitely reminded him of a certain Princess. "I hope you are prepared for the consequences."

The creature, an Archduke apparently, said something rather disdainful back.

"Get on with it!" Another voice suddenly echoed in the room. "Carry out the sentence! I want to see her suffer!"

Han felt Leia stiffen beside him. He couldn't really blame her. If anyone had wanted to see someone in his family suffer... He couldn't place the voice, which was good for them. He wasn't feeling that charitable towards the sleemo who had spoken either.

The Archduke said something else both condescending and commanding. The bugs throughout the room began to cheer as Anakin and Padme were lead off by several of the beings. Han had decided to dub them 'guard bugs'.

"It sounds like an execution to me," Leia said through clenched teeth.

"I'm betting that's where all the other bugs were going."

Leia nodded. "We need to get them out of here."

"Are you kidding? With all the guards escorting them? They don't look like much, but I doubt we can get them all without one or two getting away. Besides what about Anakin's master?" Han asked.

"I don't know," Leia frowned. "Let's try to get to them before they get to the execution. We can figure something out after that."

Han nodded, but frowned. "If we don't make it, we're going to need a pretty major distraction."

Leia glanced disapprovingly over at him. "We can't just set off some sort of explosion, Han. Not only do we not have the equipment but it might be a good idea to avoid killing innocents."

"Hey," Han argued, "Corde just warned them that they were committing an act of war. It didn't sound like the Archduke was too upset about that."

Leia's lips thinned, but she looked back down at the emptying courtroom.

"Alright," she finally conceded. "We'll do it your way. We just need to find some detonators."

"Nah," Han dismissed. "We just need to find explosives. We already have detonators. But if we happen to find something better..."

Leia nodded thoughtfully for a moment then crawled backwards out of their hidden observation area. "Let's go, then."

"How about this?" asked Han. "Let's find those explosives and decorate their main control room. It would throw everything into chaos and give us the chance to get everyone out of here."

"Good idea," Leia agreed as she waited for Han to land on the ground beside her.

"Alright then, Princess, which way now?" Han asked.

Leia shrugged and closed her eyes. "This way," she said and took off down the hall, Han just behind her.

xXx

To say Leia was conflicted would be akin to calling the Vong marginally unpleasant—basically, the understatement of a lifetime. Just about the only thing she felt no conflict over at all whatsoever was the fact that she had her husband by her side. Oh, she was sure she wanted a few things to happen, such as the sudden end of Palpatine's miserable existence, she just wasn't sure they should actually change anything major like that. What would it entail? How would that alter history? Was it even possible to change history, or was she somehow _supposed_ to be here? Would she instigate something worse by trying to bring her wishes into play? The idea of the Old Republic staving off the Vong invasion came to mind, and she didn't much care for the imagery. They wouldn't be ready for it. But then the New Republic hadn't been exactly ready either.

Then again, they had no way of knowing what she and Han had changed already. Could they afford to change more? Could they afford not to? Who was she to condemn the universe to Palpatine's rule when she could prevent it...and she _wanted_ to prevent it so badly it made her physically sick. The idea of leaving anyone under that man's 'care'...

Then there was the fact that she didn't know if changing time would erase their own timeline or somehow make it impossible for them to get back to the people they'd unwittingly left behind. That thought frightened her because she missed them so deeply that it felt as if her soul had been ripped apart, left broken and battered with no hope of ever being whole again without them. Han's presence was about the only thing really holding her together right now.

And that didn't even begin to take into account the fact that she had met her parents and how she felt about them.

Padme she felt mostly positive about meeting at all, let alone so unexpectedly. The woman seemed like a strong, upstanding person that Leia could look up to and already she wouldn't want to give up their meeting for anything. But then she remembered the sad, broken presence from her single memory of her mother, and she had to wonder... How could such a strong person become what she remembered? How badly had Padme been hurt? And how did Padme and Anakin fall in love? And the idea of Vader in love really messed with her mind and she didn't particularly like thinking about it, even if she felt she had to. She'd seen how they felt for each other with her own eyes, but that didn't mean Leia understood it. Could she prevent Padme's future pain? And again, should she try? Oh, she'd agreed with Han's suggestion to change the universe, but the consequences of her possible actions still weighed on her.

Even if they were able to alter the timeline, what if they didn't ultimately succeed in their goals and the Empire rose or Anakin fell to the Dark Side again? Would Vader realize the truth about her and Luke and come after them? Could they even be hidden now? With the information she'd given to Anakin, would he be able to put two and two together? Or would she prevent her own birth? Could she even do that? It was not a pleasant thought.

Then again, what if they did succeed? What if they somehow managed to stop Anakin from becoming Vader and got rid of Palpatine? What if they stopped the downfall of the Jedi Order? What would happen to Luke and Leia then? Would they grow up in the Jedi Temple where they would be forbidden to love? Would they grow up with their parents? What about her adopted parents? She did not like the idea of giving up Bail and Breha as her family at all, whatsoever. If they did grow up as Jedi, would she be giving up Han and her children as well? That thought almost stole her breath. She knew she couldn't knowingly give up their existence. Even Jacen.

Jacen.

What if Anakin never fell? Would that prevent Jacen from doing so as well? She knew it would be ridiculous to think that the temptation would be completely removed from his path (or any of her children's paths for that matter), but if he didn't have bad examples to follow...would it be enough?

All of this ran through her head over and over as she and Han infiltrated the base, leaving no signs of their passing on the holo-recorders (her Force Flash technique worked just as well here as it had in the future) and searching for a way to intercept Anakin and Padme before they could get to the large building where they suspected the younger couple's execution would take place.

Seeing Padme down on the floor of the courtroom had been difficult. Seeing Anakin there...had been more complicated. Most of her still felt resentment and shock towards him; felt he deserved what he was getting, even if she knew that that wasn't the case as of yet. But now that she had calmed down from the utter shock of the revelation, there had been part of her who remembered details of their conversation about Luke and Jedi in general at the garage at the Lars' and about how he'd done everything he could to calm her down out of concern. How he had reminded her of so many people so dear to her who had always been such a positive influence in her life, just as powerful as the Force itself in many cases.

And while she did not want to admit it, there was an even smaller part of her that cried out for her parents...her real parents. She had loved Bail and Breha, and still did, but she'd always wondered where she'd come from. That had never really gone away. She'd simply learned to live with it; live with knowing she would never know her biological parents and burying that pain under her resentment towards Vader.

She could push the conflict aside and focus on the present for the moment, but she knew she would have to address her feelings and issues sooner or later. It wasn't something she was looking forward to.

xXx

"Now this...this is what I'm talking about," Han said with a huge grin as he noted the room before him. It held just about everything; vibroblades, shields, blasters, portable canons, lasers, rockets and, of course, thermal detonators. He turned to Leia. "I love it when you lead me to the good stuff."

Leia raised an eyebrow, looking smug. "If I told you it was the will of the Force, what would you say?" she asked.

Han grinned back at her as he stuffed his pants pockets full of thermal detonators. "Hokey Jedi mumbo-jumbo."

Leia rolled her eyes and continued searching through the computer terminal she'd been working at slicing for several seconds, hoping to come across some sort of schematic to the building (or anything else helpful). In all actuality, she'd been lucky enough to siphon the general information off of one of the bug creatures they'd cornered. The thoughts it had projected had been vague and difficult to decipher, but well worth it. Now they just needed to find the main control room.

"Why not get a hold of Artoo?" Han asked. Leia glanced back at him and nodded her head.

Leia glanced back at him and nodded her head "Good idea." She dug out a portable comm from her belt and dialed Artoo's comm frequency.

"Artoo, are you there?" she asked.

A series of beeps and trills answered her. She grinned. "Excellent. Are you near an outlet of some kind? I need to find a schematic of the building." More beeps and trills. She'd only barely come to understand a few things in binary and so she didn't catch everything, but she could guess. He'd probably been hiding and would have to find a terminal. "It's fine, but you need to hurry," she responded. "Let me know when you find an outlet. Leia out."

"Here," Han said. She turned around just in time to catch one of the thermal detonators he threw at her. "Don't know when we might need them."

She shrugged and began stuffing her own pockets. "I'll take the smaller detonators too," she commented with a slight after thought. "Most of them, in any case. You can keep a few."

"I can, huh?" Han asked teasingly.

"Yes," Leia responded with a slight smile. "You can thank me for my generosity later."

Han just snorted and held out three of the five little devices he'd jury-rigged together. "Here you are, sweetheart."

"Why thank you, Captain."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Captain? Been a while since I held any title like that. Besides, last I remember I was a General."

"That was before you decided to run around the galaxy in a little ship with only your co-pilot, aka me, for company."

"So you're saying I outrank you?" he asked.

Leia snorted. "Hardly. You just own a ship."

Han's face fell a little at that. "I did."

"We'll get back to her," Leia said quietly. "One way or another."

Her husband nodded and went back to searching through the blasters. Leia sighed and returned to her pathetic attempts at slicing.

Finally a beep from her comm alerted her to Artoo's response.

"Hey Artoo, do you have it?" she asked.

An affirmative beep.

"Excellent. Now Han and I are in section 3AA in the weapons locker...I think. I don't understand this language very well. Could you make the schematics appear on this screen. Another positive beep and Leia waited. After a few minutes, she sighed in relief as the image came onto the holo projector's screen.

"Excellent, Artoo! Thanks! Find somewhere to wait for us. Over and—" She paused as frantic beeping came from the little speaker.

"Whoa, Artoo," Leia said. "Slow down."

He didn't.

"Artoo!" Leia snapped, a little more loudly than she otherwise would have liked. He did calm down though. "I know about Padme and...Anakin. We're going to rescue them. Make sure you're nowhere near the main control area. Actually," she added on as an after-thought, "you may want to go back to the ship and wait for us there."

The sounds that followed did not sound happy. Han snorted and Leia shot an annoyed glance at him.

"Fine, whatever you want to do," she said hurriedly. "As for right now, keep looking through the computers for any useful information."

A positive beep.

"Good. Leia over and out."

With that she put the comm away and motioned for Han to join her. They spent the next several minutes figuring out where they were and how to get to the main control center. Not twenty minutes later, they locked the doors behind them, leaving guards they'd knocked unconscious inside.

xXx

"Do you think they're going to come?" Padme asked as the guards led them down the tunnel they'd been practically herded into. Anakin didn't answer and the guards didn't seem to care if they continued to converse, so Padme went on. "Between our capture, speaking with Count Dooku, that farce of a trial and preparations for...this..." She nodded ahead of them. "It's been hours. Where are they?"

"I told you, Leia hates me," Anakin said, his voice low and tense as he walked. He didn't look down at her. "She and Han have probably taken our ship and are on their way to Alderaan right now."

Padme blinked up at him in surprise. "Anakin," she asked slowly. "Do you really believe that?"

For a few seconds, he didn't answer, but then he seemed to deflate. "I don't know anymore, Padme," he said softly. "I thought we could count on them...but if that's true, then why aren't they here?"

The Senator's face was grim as she looked down in front of her. Then she seemed to straighten in determination. Despite her own unsure question earlier, she voiced the next statements firmly. "They're on their way. We have to believe in them."

"Why?"

"Because they're good people, Anakin! They won't just leave us to die."

"I wish I could believe that."

Padme frowned. "Just a few hours ago you were defending them. You said they don't support the Separatists."

"They don't," Anakin returned. "I'm still convinced they don't. But they were hiding something, Padme. Something big. And the way they changed..." He shook his head. "I don't know. I just know she hated me...like she wanted me dead."

Padme shook her head firmly. "No. Leia isn't like that. You said so yourself, didn't you?"

Anakin didn't answer, and finally Padme sighed. "I know you've seen awful things, Anakin, but please, don't give up on them. Don't give up on people."

Again, he didn't answer and for several more minutes they walked in silence. After what seemed like forever, they came to a large room with a dirt floor. In the center of the room hovered an open cart with what looked like pack animals of some kind being hooked up to it. The two prisoners were shoved roughly towards it and the chains linked to the cuffs of their hands fixed to the front of it.

Padme just stood there, looking out into the brightly lit arena ahead of them.

"Don't be afraid," Anakin said, trying to be reassuring. He doubted he was successful.

She glanced up at him, her expression serious. "I'm not afraid to die," she said quietly, but her voice was firm and unyielding. Then it softened when she continued. "I've been dying a little each day since you came back into my life."

It was Anakin's turn to blink in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

She seemed a little sardonic when she spoke next, but her voice was serious and she never once took her eyes off of his face. "I love you."

Wait..._what?!_

xXx

"We're awfully lucky those things aren't flying around in here," Han said as he and his wife looked down from their hiding place towards the top of the rather large room that housed a veritable ship load of computers and monitors. They were surprised that that much technology had been squeezed into the room. It looked like a warlord's headquarters in Leia's opinion. She didn't like the comparison.

Yes, they had realized that their analogy was probably correct after that and had been doubly glad they'd gone for this type of distraction.

Leia nodded. She opened her mouth to whisper something back, but a twinge in the Force had her suddenly whirling around.

"What? What is it?" Han asked worriedly.

"They've started...the executions," she said in the half-daze state she went into whenever she connected to the Force. Then she turned to Han, her expression serious. "Finish laying the explosives. When I comm you, set a thermal detonator for a chain reaction and get out. Come and find me then."

"Where are you going?" Han asked angrily.

"I have to help," she said, leaning in for a quick kiss before turning to dash off.

"Wait, Leia!" Han whispered loudly, but she ignored him. He considered chasing after her for a moment, but reluctantly dismissed the idea. Someone had to set off these explosives. Growling in frustration, he continued to move around the room as quietly as he could, setting thermal detonators behind outcroppings and rocks or in crevices, vowing that he and Leia were going to have a rather long talk when he saw her again.

xXx

Leia raced as quickly as she dared down the halls and towards where she felt Anakin's presence. It seemed that everyone wanted to see the execution, which meant the halls stood mostly empty, which in turn made it rather easy to avoid the few bug-beings she came across (and it bothered her that she still didn't know the name of their species, even if it wasn't that important at the moment).

The Force urged her on and she followed it forward. After a few minutes of outright running, she came to a hallway curving away on both sides from her position. Ahead of her, a staircase led up to the next level. She blinked back some surprise that there even was a staircase (the first one she had really seen), but pushed the thought aside quickly and sprinted up it.

At the top she rushed out and into the bright sunlight, which caused her to wince and try to block the harsh light from her eyes. After a few moments they adjusted and she saw, spreading out below her, a large stadium with three columns in the middle. Fortunately, no one was chained to those columns, although Leia suspected the three beings at various points around the stadium had been at one point.

Her eyes took in the scene quickly. Anakin seemed to be approaching a horned animal with his hand outstretched...just like Jacen used to. The sight didn't bring up pleasant memories, but Leia tore her attention away from him anyway. Another man, probably Anakin's Jedi Master, dodged and rolled away from a large, reptilian animal with many legs and sharp teeth.

It was Padme* that really drew her attention though. Leia found her at the top of one of the pillars, large gashes bleeding on her back from what looked like an animal scratch. A feline-like creature with far too many teeth scrambled up the pillar, its eyes fixed on the human woman at the top.

Then, before Leia's eyes, she jumped off and swung around the pillar, kicking the large animal off and into the sand below. Leia sighed in relief as Padme climbed up the chain to the top of the pillar again and began picking at something on her wrist. It took Leia a moment to realize that it was one half of a handcuff. Apparently she was still chained to the pillar after all. The thought did not sit well with Leia.

She wanted to jump in and help, but the Force told her to wait. Frustration built inside of her. Why had she been urged to get here _now_ if she was supposed to wait? The answer came when Anakin bowled over the feline creature with the horned beast he'd (somehow) mounted. Padme jumped down next to him and not twenty seconds later, the Jedi Master hopped on behind her.

Leia grinned despite herself as she watched them charge towards the exit, but her grin faltered when several battle droids rolled out to surround them. They paused and Leia grabbed for her lightsaber. Before she could jump down to aid them, though, a surge through the Force rushed through her and several other sabers spring into being around the stadium.

At first she couldn't help but grin in relief. The Jedi backup from Courscant had come. Then the battle started and she realized just how outmatched they were. There had to be several dozen Jedi in the arena (and wasn't that a strange and welcome sight?) but between the droids rolling or marching onto the field and the locals...even Jedi couldn't hope to win against such odds.

Not unless they had a distraction.

"Han," she said into her comm unit. "Now!"

Without waiting for a reply, she turned on her lightsaber and jumped into the fray below.

xXx

*It's something I fixed in the previous chapter, but basically Luke and Leia did some research in the future and found out about their mother's name. I know it happened in canon, but I'm not sure when, so just know that for the purposes of this story, Leia does know her mother's real name.

AN: Also note that I know Padme and Corde are spelled with the accented e, but I've never been able to figure out how to type that on my computer and it's such a pain to find online...so if anyone can tell me how to do that, I'll fix it in other stories, but for now, Padme and Corde will be spelled like that.

I would VERY much like to thank EVERYONE who wanted to beta this for me. I got more requests than I thought I would and that is very flattering. :hug: Thank you, everyone! I managed to pick two people who I felt had the most in-depth comments and feedback both positive and negative. One will be my main beta and the other a reserve beta for when my main beta is unavailable. They're both amazing, so please give a round of applause to the-writer1988 and cloudy dream (if they accept)! :D


	11. Chapter 10

Leia had always found fighting droids simultaneously more difficult and far easier than fighting sentients. Admittedly, modern day droids could be immensely complicated and have hundreds of thousands of different reactions for any given situation, but they still tended to fall into highly predictable patterns and they rarely changed tactics unless specifically programmed to do so. At the same time, because they weren't organic, they tended to be a bit harder to read through the Force, and thus somewhat more difficult to predict in that way. It hadn't been something she'd noticed until she'd really thrown herself into her Jedi training and she knew many other Jedi felt the same way.

She still preferred to fight droids though, if only for the simple fact that they could be repaired. She could cut off a droid's head or sever its chest in two and a great deal of the mechanical components would be salvageable after the battle. Disabling or killing sentients, on the other hand, tended to weigh rather heavily on her conscience no matter how many battles she'd fought. As much as she disliked this fact, it wasn't something she ever wanted to change.

Thankfully the opposing side to the fray that Leia had thrown herself into consisted mostly of droids and she'd already taken down several before her mind really caught up with her situation. She'd just cut down two droids at once when she realized how close in proximity she'd come to several other Jedi...Jedi that she didn't know in the slightest. It took her a second to realize that even if few people would recognize another random Knight in their midst at the moment, eventually it would come to a point where someone would realize she wasn't one of them, and that would raise far too many questions that she did not want to answer at the moment.

Instinct and the Force flowed through her in equal measure as she searched her mind for an answer to her dilemma, although she didn't slow for a moment. She did note that her heightened connection to the source of her power somehow allowed her to make sense of the deadly chaos surrounding her with far less concentration than she was used to and she couldn't help the relief she felt because of it.

That was when she saw Anakin and Padme crouched by an overturned pod of some sort across the arena. Reluctantly but quickly, she bent down and, while still deflecting bolts with her saber, grabbed some blasters from a few fallen robots. She may not be able to fight as a Jedi without giving away more than she was willing to at the moment (unless it became absolutely necessary), but that did not mean she would run into a battle helpless and defenseless. No, she had lived for decades with nothing but a few good blasters in hand and she doubted it would kill her to go back to that method now.

Well, she hoped not in any case.

xXx

Anakin felt immensely relieved to have a lightsaber back in his hands. It wasn't his, but he was not about to complain. He was surprised so many Jedi had come to rescue Obi-wan. He'd always had his issues with the Jedi council, but he had to admit that when one of their own was in trouble...

Not that it was helping much. Sure droids were falling left and right, but for every one that fell it seemed like five more took its place. He couldn't help but feel grateful that Padme hadn't been shot yet, despite the fact that she wasn't Force sensitive. He could already see the bodies of Jedi that held no sign of life. Briefly he held a worried thought for Obi-wan. He could still feel his Master's living presence, but he couldn't see how well the older man was doing as the battle around them could not be described as anything short of pure chaos, making finding just about anything specific nigh impossible.

Right about when he thought that, the moving hover cart he'd jumped into shuddered and twisted from a canon-blaster shot. He rolled out of it as it turned over, managing to escape without taking much damage, although it took him a moment to regain his feet. As soon as he did, he glanced over just in time to see Padme racing towards him and crouching in the bottom of the overturned craft for shelter.

"Is this what you call a diplomatic solution?" he asked wryly.

"No," she responded almost playfully, "I call it aggressive negotiations."

He grinned at her for just a moment before a warning through the Force had him blocking several blaster bolts coming their way.

Suddenly a loud boom thundered through the stadium, shaking the ground and knocking anyone who wasn't in the air to the floor. For an instant, the fighting stopped and everyone looked around in confusion.

"What was that?" Padme asked Anakin.

"I don't know," Anakin replied, but he wasn't looking at her. Instead his eyes were fixed on the platform where Dooku had been before. It stood empty now. In the distance, a large pillar of smoke rose into the otherwise clear air.

"That would be Han," a voice beside them had them glancing over in surprise to see Leia standing near them, blaster in each hand and a few slung over her shoulders. They simply blinked at her as the battle began to pick up around them again.

"Leia?" Anakin asked, his voice incredulous.

The woman frowned as she crouched by Padme. "You didn't think we'd leave you, did you?"

"Well, where were you?" Anakin shot back, turning to block more blaster bolts.

Leia's frown turned into a scowl as she glanced angrily up at his back, and she didn't say anything for several seconds, instead choosing to aim and shoot at a group of droids that had focused on them.

"Infiltrating the base and finding you wasn't all that easy. We decided to create a distraction," she finally said as she discarded one of the spent blasters and swung another one over her head to replace it.

"What did you do?" Padme yelled over her shoulder.

Anakin could almost feel Leia's triumphant smirk. "We blew up their main control center."

"Then why aren't the droids down?" Anakin asked.

"I think they're controlled from a ship," Padme answered for her. Anakin's frown deepened.

"We weren't aiming for the droids, we wanted a diversion," Leia said. "We need to get everyone out of here!"

"To where?" Padme asked.

"To our ships," the older woman yelled to be heard over the blaster fire. She hadn't stopped shooting and her shots never seemed to miss. Anakin suspected she was drawing subconsciously on the Force.

He saw a group of droids ganging up on a Jedi he'd never met, and momentarily felt torn. He should stay and protect Padme, but he also couldn't let a fellow Jedi die without doing something. Making up his mind, and mentally promising to be back in a moment, Anakin jumped forward, his lightsaber slicing through the droids in his path.

That was when he realized his mistake. The Jedi were being herded into the center and would soon be completely surrounded.

"Anakin!" Padme yelled, racing up to him in a running crouch as she continued to shoot down the droids around her. He felt a swell of pride and love at her skill.

"How many more of these things are there?" Leia asked angrily stalking up to them, ducking and dodging any blaster bolts that came her way.

"This is a droid factory!" Anakin pointed out.

The colorful words that floated over the battle from the mouth of the other woman would have made both Anakin and Padme stop and stare in any other situation.

"Did anyone come in here with a plan to survive?" Leia snarled. "I thought Jedi were supposed to be learned and intelligent!"

"Look, we—" Anakin started but was cut off by another loud boom, although they could clearly see the source of this one as a good portion of the arena had blown apart. The battle didn't stop completely this time, but most of the beings and robots in the arena glanced over just as a third explosion went off further down the arena stands.

"Is that Han too?" Padme asked incredulously.

Leia didn't answer, but Anakin did notice that smirk of hers was back.

"Look!" Padme suddenly said. Anakin and Leia both glanced at her to see that she had her gaze fixed on the sky, so both of them looked up. Above them, several ships were coming in for a landing.

"Stormtroopers?" Leia asked, her voice hushed, confused and horrified all at once.

"What?" Anakin asked.

"Later," Leia responded.

"They're helping us!" Padme said, relief in her voice.

"And landing!" Anakin added. "Quick! Get to one!"

They fought their way over to the ships and relative safety.

"Where's Han?" Leia asked once they climbed aboard the ship, her voice only marginally breathless.

Anakin searched their surroundings and saw the older man emerge from a doorway about half-way up the arena just outside of the most recent blast area, a weapon in each hand as he ran down the steps and towards the nearest transport. A few of the droids that remained up in the now abandoned seating area turned to shoot at him.

"He's going to get himself killed!" Anakin hissed and reached out with the Force.

"Han!" Leia screamed beside him. "Behind you!" But there would be no chance of him hearing her at this distance. Anakin didn't let her shout and the worry he could feel from her through the Force distract him. If his connection hadn't been as deep as it was, he may not have been able to reach them in time. Fortunately, he was the 'Chosen One'. It took a good deal of concentration, but he managed to use the Force to knock the droids down before they could shoot his friend.

Right about then, apparently, the closest transport noticed him because they suddenly turned their fire to cover him and he disappeared from view.

"I hope he's alright," Padme said worriedly.

"He's alive," Leia said neutrally, her eyes still fixed worriedly on the area she had seen her husband last. Then she turned and looked at Anakin as their transport rose into the air.

"What?" he asked defensively.

She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before shaking her head . "Thank you," she said softly, but he could tell she meant it. "For saving him."

Anakin regarded her for a few moments before smiling tentatively at the older woman. "You're welcome."

"Do you plan on introducing me, Anakin?"

Anakin turned to see Obi-wan standing behind them, arm grasping a hand hold. Somehow he'd managed to get onto the transport with them. The young Jedi felt a surge of relief when he realized his master had gotten through the battle safely.

"Oh, Obi-wan, this is our friend Leia Solo. Leia, this is my master, Obi-wan Kenobi."

Leia glanced over at Obi-wan and then her face broke into a large smile. "Master Kenobi!" she said happily and held out her hand. "I'm honored to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Anakin for a moment. "Really?" he asked, sounding as if he didn't believe that at all. Then he looked back at Leia an easy smile coming to his lips. Anakin could tell it was forced only because he knew Obi-wan so well. "All good things, I hope."

Leia chuckled. "Most definitely," she said.

"I'm sorry my Padawan seems to have dragged you into this. We didn't expect it to turn into a battle," he said apologetically, shooting a stern glare at his apprentice just as their transport swerved around shots of blaster and canon fire coming from the ground. Anakin was surprised (and rather dismayed) that the droids had mobilized so quickly.

"Oh, no," Leia objected, "he didn't drag us into anything! We volunteered."

"We?" Obi-wan asked.

"My husband and I," she said. "We were looking for a ride to Alderaan and they were kind enough to offer."

Obi-wan frowned at Anakin again. Well at least Leia was _trying_ to help and not being a sleemo by completely turning him over to the wolves, although she really was only making things worse at the moment.

"I see," Obi-wan said, not taking his eyes off of Anakin.

"I'll explain later, Master," Anakin replied.

"We should probably focus on the battle," Padme pointed out.

Obi-wan nodded. "Indeed we should."

And with that, he turned to survey the chaos below.

xXx

Leia was currently having a hard time focusing on the battle around her. She'd come here with the intent to save Anakin and Padme, but she hadn't expected Anakin to go out of his way to save Han like that, especially after the way they'd parted. She didn't know what she would have done if something had happened to her husband, but she could bet it wouldn't have been good.

So now, along with every other feeling racing through her mind and body, she also felt _grateful_ to Anakin—to Darth Vader. Suppressing a groan, she rubbed the bridge of her nose feeling a migraine coming on.

"Hold on!" Obi-wan yelled as the ship rocked from a hit. Ahead, they were shooting at what looked like docking ports for ships. Most of them looked full and the ships themselves weren't exactly small either. They were transport ships, she realized suddenly, and guessed that they had all probably been filled to the brim with thousands upon thousands of droids.

"Aim right above the fuel cells!" Anakin shouted.

The person (or was he a stormtrooper? In armor that reminded her rather uneasily of Boba Fett—these had to be the clones, she realized with a sinking feeling) piloting nodded in acknowledgment and shot two missiles. The entire structure went up in a fiery ball and fell over, crushing a few hundred droids beneath it.

"Good call, my young Padawan!" Obi-wan said to Anakin with a smile.

Leia found it strange that he would say that to his apprentice in the middle of a battle, but brushed it off and tried to turn her attention away from her inner battle to the outer one. Only years of practice and discipline allowed her to do so.

xXx

This was a disaster. An absolute and utter disaster. Dooku had already spent too much time trying to get into what had previously been the control headquarters for the base. Rock and debris buried everything, though, and what hadn't been covered was nothing but twisted rubble.

He couldn't help but feel confused (thankfully that was not a difficult emotion to turn into anger) at this turn of events though. These tactics weren't Jedi tactics. So who else was here? What allies had Kenobi, Skywalker and Amidala made? Or was this just an attack of coincidence by some sort of rebel faction on the planet?

Either way, it didn't look good. And worst of all, the plans for the Death Star had been in those computers. They'd just received the plans via transmission (from Kessel of all places) and he was supposed to deliver it to his Master. He almost winced at that thought. Sidious would not be pleased.

A beep from his comm informed him that the Neimoidians wished to speak to him. The feeling wasn't mutual, but he needed to know what had happened.

"Dooku," he said tersely as he turned the comm on.

"The Jedi have amassed a huge army!" the Viceroy's voice came over the speaker.

"That doesn't seem possible," Dooku said, putting just a touch of disbelieving surprise into his voice. So, the Jedi had indeed turned to the clone army, just as Sidious had said they would.

"We are sending all our droids out to battle," the Neimoidian continued.

"No," Dooku said as he turned and walked down one of the few corridors untouched by the blast. It was time to cut his losses and leave. Now he just needed to convince the Trade Federation of that. "If what you say is true, then we need to regroup. Withdraw for now."

The Viceroy answered, although he sounded reluctant. "Very well. Send us the coordinates. Gunray out."

Well, that had been easier than he'd expected. He transmitted the coordinates with the com and a portable computer. Then he focused on hurrying towards the hangars. He needed to get to his ship and discuss this unexpected turn of events with his Master.

xXx

"Thanks for holding up," Han breathed after he'd dived into the transport. He looked up with a smile only to have it disappear when he saw three lightsabers pointed at him, each held by a rather threatening looking sentient: one Mon Calamari, one human and what looked like a strange, aquatic being he didn't know the race of off the top of his head.

"Who are you?" the Mon Cal asked.

Han raised his hands in surrender. "Han Solo. I'm here to help. I set off the explosives."

That didn't seem to exonerate him in their eyes because the lightsabers didn't budge.

"Why are you here?" the human spoke up.

Han couldn't help but think that he was glad he'd gotten to know the Jedi in the New Order as it seemed the old ones all had sticks shoved up their backsides.

"I'm with Anakin Skywalker," he said after a moment. That got a reaction.

"What?" the aquatic being asked.

"My wife and I helped the kid out, so he offered us a ride to Alderaan. We...got a bit side-tracked. When they got captured, we decided to try and break them out."

The three Jedi glanced at each other before returning their gaze to Han.

"And where is your wife?"

Han frowned. "No clue. Probably out there in the thick of things, trying to get herself killed," he muttered. He worried about her, but he was sure he would know somehow if she died. No, she was still alive. She had to be.

Another silence. These Jedi were fond of those, it seemed.

After what felt like forever, the aquatic Jedi finally addressed Han. "Until we can verify your story, we're going to have to detain you." He turned to the Boba Fett Wannabe beside him. "After we land, take him somewhere safe. Make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Yes, sir," the man said before he turned to watch Han.

If Han had been twenty years younger, he would have argued, probably rather aggressively. Now he was just grateful for a chance to rest. That didn't mean he wasn't miffed at his treatment. He'd done a lot of damage back there and was rather proud of the part he'd played.

"Don't everyone thank me at once," he muttered. This was what he got for helping Jedi. Somehow, he wasn't surprised.

xXx

The enormous sphere that was the droid ship crashed to the ground, sending a tidal wave of dust and debris out from the epicenter that washed over all of the ships, droids and soldiers alike. Anakin heard Leia coughing quietly beside him and glanced over to make sure she was alright.

"I'm fine," she said, noting his concern and waving it off.

"Look, over there!" Obi-wan said suddenly, pointing off to one side. Anakin peered through what was left of the dust and saw two droid escorts and a swoop bike.

"It's Dooku," he said. "Shoot him down!"

"We're out of rockets, sir," the driver said over his shoulder.

Anakin scowled. "Follow him."

"We're going to need some help!" Padme objected.

"There isn't time," Obi-wan yelled back. "Anakin and I can handle this."

Leia chewed her lip. Should she tell them that she could fight too? She decided to wait and see how it played out as she peered out at Dooku. It was then that she realized the dark presence she'd felt earlier was coming from him. A clump of carbonite began to form in her stomach. She'd known he used to be a Jedi, but apparently he'd turned dark. Did that make him a Sith? Or just a Dark Jedi? Either way, this didn't look promising.

Right about then, Dooku seemed to realize that he was being followed as he sent his two escort droids to attack them. The pilot began evasive maneuvers, doing a fairly good job at avoiding the fire until they shaved the top of a sand dune, causing them to take a hit. A shout of surprise from behind them had Leia whipping around just in time to see her mother fall from the transport and land on the sand below, rolling down the dune.

"Padme!" She yelled at the same time Anakin did.

He paused for just a moment, glancing in confused worry at Leia before he shouted at the pilot. "Put the ship down!"

"Anakin!" Obi-wan said, grabbing his Padawan's arm. "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way!"

Anakin looked torn, glancing between Obi-wan and the disappearing form of Padme. Leia could relate. Half of her wanted to follow Dooku and make sure that Obi-wan and Anakin took him out, but she also wanted to check on Padme. In the Rebellion and in the New Jedi Order they didn't leave anyone behind.

"Follow that speeder," Obi-wan said.

Leia glanced at Anakin, unable to hide her worry. Anakin seemed to agree and he clenched his jaw, turning to address the pilot.

"Lower the ship!"

"I can't take Dooku alone!" Obi-wan shouted. "I need you! If we catch him, we can end this war right now! We have a job to do!"

"I don't care," Anakin shot back. "Put the ship down!"

"You will be expelled from the Jedi Order!"

"I can't leave her!"

"Come to your senses!"

It was strange to hear Obi-wan Kenobi so adamant and emotional. Her father had always described the Jedi as a man who was always in control of his feelings; a master of his craft and a man who embodied reliability.

"What do you think Padme would do were she in your position?" Obi-wan continued sternly.

For several seconds, Anakin didn't answer. Instead he looked away from his master, breathing heavily. "She would do her duty," he said finally.

Leia saw how much that hurt him to say and for the first time since she'd realized who he was, she felt sorry for him. Han was right. How could this emotional boy become the cold enforcer she remembered?

"Anakin," she heard herself say and he turned to her. "She'll be alright."

"How do you know?" he asked, half suspicious half desperate.

She shook her head. "I just do." He studied her with an unreadable expression until Obi-wan spoke up.

"You may want to stay with the ship," he said to Leia. "I don't think you can help with—"

"I'm coming," she broke in firmly. "I won't get in your way."

The Jedi didn't look happy, but after a moment, he nodded his head. "Get ready then."

Ahead of them, the Count drove his swoop bike into what looked like a private hanger situated in a cliff side. Their ship caught up just moments later. Anakin and Obi-wan jumped out, lightsabers blazing. Leia followed on their heels. Over her shoulder she saw the ship begin to fly away, but the escort droids caught it with blasters. She frowned as it exploded: so much for their escape.

Taking her lightsaber out, just in case, she turned back to the hangar entrance and ran inside.

xXx

Thanks to the-writer1988 for her awesome beta-reading skillz and being a great person to bounce ideas off of!


	12. Chapter 11

Dooku had abandoned the swoop just inside the entrance. Ahead of her, she could see Anakin and Obi-wan racing through the hall. Leia followed as quickly as she could. Then she saw the two other Jedi stop inside what looked like a large room that could be a hangar (although she wasn't sure as she couldn't see either a ship or a port) and take defensive positions. Well, Obi-wan did. Anakin just stood there. Leia could feel his anger, worry and frustration through the Force and she paused just outside the doorway. That wasn't good.

"You're going to pay for all the Jedi that you've killed today, Dooku," Anakin said angrily.

"We'll take him together," she heard Obi-wan say. "You go in slowly on the left—"

"I'm taking him now!" Anakin practically growled and rushed forward.

"No, Anakin! NO!" Obi-wan yelled. Leia felt torn between wincing and rolling her eyes, knowing this would not end well. Her suspicions were justified when Dooku shot Force Lightning out of his fingers. It caught the young Jedi in a sort of energy grasp Leia had never seen before and flung him to the side, hard.

"Anakin!" Leia yelled before she could stop herself. Then she put a hand to her mouth more out of confusion than worry or horror. Why had she felt actual worry for the Padawan? For the man who would (may) become Darth Vader? It probably had more to do with Obi-wan now having to take on the Sith alone than anything else, she decided after a few moments and then forcefully brushed the thought from her mind as she turned back to focus on the confrontation taking pace before her eyes.

"Ah, so you brought an audience," Dooku said lightly, as if he was commenting on some particularly amusing holonews article. He and Obi-wan began circling each other warily, although he hadn't taken out his lightsaber yet. Leia could see it on his belt and he looked ready to draw at any moment, but despite this, his manor was casual.

"Leia, stay back," Obi-wan said. She glanced over at Anakin who seemed to be trying to move, but didn't seem to be making much progress. He looked like he was lucky to have any reaction from his body at all. His movements remained sluggish and from the expression on his face, he was still in a lot of pain. Leia had never been subjected to Force Lightning herself, but she'd seen it often enough. Too often, in her opinion.

Dooku didn't so much as glance at Leia as he and Obi-wan circled each other. "As you can see," he said to Obi-wan, "my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now back down." With that, he raised his hand and shot more lightning at Obi-wan, who caught it on his saber.

"I don't think so," the younger Jedi said calmly.

At that point, Dooku's back was to Leia. She braced herself, one hand on her lightsaber just in case he came for her as a mental attack on Obi-wan. Fortunately, he appeared to have dismissed her completely as he finally took out his lightsaber and ignited it, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. Red streamed from the strangely curved handle and he held it at his side in a deceptively open position.

Leia glanced at Anakin again, surprised that she wanted to help him, if only so he could join the fight about to take place, but she didn't dare with Obi-wan and Dooku so close to him.

Then, in a blur, Obi-wan attacked, his saber a humming whirl of color. Leia watched, impressed despite herself. She knew few Jedi who fought as gracefully and confidently as either of the men in front of her. After a few moments, they parted and continued to circle.

"Master Kenobi," Dooku said as he advanced towards his adversary slowly, his voice still holding that condescendingly amused tone. "You disappoint me. Yoda holds you in such high esteem." They crossed blades again for a few moments. "Surely you can do better."

_Obi-wan's leading him away from Anakin,_ Leia realized. He was trying to give his Padawan time to recover. Leia knew she could help the younger Jedi, but the fighting duo were still a bit too close for comfort, especially when Obi-wan jumped over the ramp to the ship and backed towards Anakin again. She did notice he relaxed somewhat when he put himself between Dooku and Anakin.

They continued to fight and Leia could only watch for an opening nervously. It didn't take a genius at swordplay to note that Obi-wan was outmatched, and that worried her. She was sure she could buy a few minutes by fighting the Dark Side user herself if she had to, but if this continued she couldn't see it ending with anything other than Dooku's escape at best. She doubted either Obi-wan or Anakin would die, but still... At the moment, she really didn't want to take that chance.

The priority here was stopping Dooku, though, and it looked like she'd end up having to fight him eventually. It worried her that she'd have to give away her secret to do so, but if that was what the Force told her to do... She didn't have a blaster holster and didn't like the idea of taking the large weapons she still had strapped over her shoulders into a saber battle, so she decided to leave them there in the hallway and out of sight. As she bent down and set her two remaining blasters against the wall, her hand brushed something lumpy in her pocket. Blinking, she reached inside and pulled out one of the crude detonators that Han had rigged. Then she glanced around the corner at the ship Dooku was planning on using to escape. She looked back at Anakin, who seemed to be recovering fairly well and then over at Obi-wan who had Dooku locked, saber against saber. A plan formed in her mind and she knew she would have to act _now_.

She took a step into the hanger just as Dooku broke the lock, slicing at Obi-wan's Arm and then his leg too fast for the Jedi to catch it. He cried out and landed hard on his side.

"Obi-wan!" Leia cried out, hand reaching for her saber again. Or should she use a Force Push? It would be faster. She reached out to the Force, but Anakin beat her to it. With a cry, his green blade sprang to life and he leapt from the wall he'd been resting against. The world seemed to slow as she watched him fly through the air towards Dooku, just barely managing to catch the red blade. Leia almost collapsed from relief, knowing now that Obi-wan would not be sliced in half before her eyes. It bothered her that she'd hesitated like that and determined that if someone's life was on the line again, she would jump to the rescue, secret to keep or not.

"Brave of you, boy," Dooku said to Anakin. "I thought you would have learned your lesson."

Leia saw Obi-wan reach out with the Force and draw his saber towards him. She balked incredulously. Was he going to fight? In that condition? Against a trained Dark Jedi or Sith? That was suicide!

"I am a slow learner," Anakin said back, his voice an icy calm. He broke away just as Obi-wan called out.

"Anakin!" He threw his blade to his apprentice and the duel continued.

Leia glanced between them, but decided that Anakin could hold his own for a while. She hoped he could in any case, and forced herself to turn and study the ship. It took her a few moments to determine the most likely places the fuel cells would be situated in the design. She had three detonators, so she could afford to be a little off, although there was a chance that the hull of the ship would be too thick for a weak detonator to get through. Still, she had to try.

She thanked the Force that Dooku didn't know she was a Jedi herself. If she could play up the 'helpless civilian who wanted to help' act, he may not suspect she'd gotten to the ship if he tried to escape, especially if he had to hurry out of the hangar.

Taking her chance, she rushed at the ship, slapping her back against it when she reached it and then knelt down as she placed one of the detonators on the hull (happy that Han had put the 'sticking feature' into his 'design'). It would be better if she could get one inside, but she wasn't sure she could pull that off. Glancing over at the two duelists and then at the man lying motionless on the floor, she called out to Obi-wan softly.

"Obi-wan," she whispered. "Over here."

His head shot up in horror as his eyes fixed on her.

"I told you to stay back!"

"This way!" she gestured, ignoring his comment.

"I'll aggravate the injuries if I move too quickly. You need to get back!"

She glanced over at Anakin and Dooku, realizing that the Sith had taken one of Anakin's blades out of the equation, sliced it in half, apparently, as the pieces lay not too far away from her. She fingered her blade again and considered jumping in to help for a third time.

Before she could decide though, Anakin cut the power cords and the lights went out. All she could see were flashes of blue and red as they continued their fight. This was perfect! Moving carefully, and ignoring Obi-wan's continued hisses, she made her way towards the ramp of the ship and peeked inside. With one last glance over her shoulder at Dooku and Anakin, she raced onto the ship.

Fuel cells...fuel cells...where would...there! It was a small ship and it wasn't difficult to find the engine area, seeing as she would have to go through it to get to the front of the vessel. The ship had two canisters on each side of the small walk-way that led to the cockpit and it wouldn't be too difficult to hide the detonators either. With a grim nod, she set a device hidden on each canister. Enough heat would set it off, and she doubted Dooku would make it through the atmosphere of the planet intact if he didn't find them.

As soon as she had set the last one, she rushed back out into the blackness just in time to see the two blades clash again, and then time slowed down. Somehow, she saw how it would end and just what would happen. She knew Anakin was about to lose.

Even if she hated him, even if he would become Darth Vader in the future, right now his life was not worth her secret. Gathering the Force, she shot her arms out, imagining the Force knocking them both off of their feet. It didn't, but they did both stumble and the swipe that would have taken at least Anakin's arm went wide.

The dueling stopped and they both turned to stare at her.

"Leia," Anakin said slowly. "You can use the Force?"

She closed her eyes, wishing she could have avoided this. Then she turned on her lightsaber, the deep, aqua blue adding its own hue to the darkness.

"Yes."

"But—"

"Later," she cut him off.

"And may I have the name of my new adversary?" Dooku asked pleasantly.

"Solo," Leia answered in a polite if terse voice. "Leia Solo."

xXx

To say Anakin was shocked would not really touch on the utter bewilderment he felt. Leia was _trained _in the Force? She had her own _lightsaber_? _Seriously?!_ He could only watch in a sort of shocked, confused awe as she raised her blade in a defensive position and slowly advanced on the other two men.

"Are you willing to take him with me?" she asked, obviously addressing Anakin. "Even if you're not, please don't rush him again."

"But—" He started, but she cut him off.

"I promise I'll explain later. Right now, we need to stop him."

Anakin looked her up and down hesitantly, as if seeing her for the first time. Was this really the same woman he'd met just a few days ago? Physically, she hadn't changed. He saw the same, somewhat lined face framed by dark hair, just beginning to turn gray, piled on top of her head. He saw the same, loose clothing (that looked rather Jedi-esque now that he thought about it) and the same small frame.

It was her eyes that had changed. When Anakin had first met her, those chocolate eyes had reminded him of Padme's; they'd been warm and stubborn and searching. After the strange confrontation on the ship, her eyes had hardened. They had suddenly been cold chips of brown ice, angry and accusing. Now she just looked so determined and unyielding that he wondered how he'd missed her very presence in the Force and the way she'd held herself before. Of course she was Force-trained. He could see it in every movement she took and he could feel it now that she wasn't shielding her connection...and what a connection it was. He almost couldn't tell where she stopped and the Force began. It reminded him of his own connection...and he'd never seen anything like that with anyone else before.

"Well?" she snapped, drawing him out of his thoughts.

Finally he raised his lightsaber. "You'd better live to explain."

And they attacked.

xXx

Confusion wasn't an emotion Obi-wan had to deal with too often these days, but when he'd seen the woman Anakin had introduced as his 'friend'—someone his apprentice had met on what was most likely an outer-rim planet—produce a lightsaber, well, the word 'confusion' barely touched his state of being. Flabbergasted? Astonished? Completely and utterly shocked? Yes, those came much closer.

He released what he could to the Force and continued to watch in amazement as Anakin and Leia fought side-by-side. Her movements weren't polished or graceful, especially not next to Anakin's and Dooku's styles, but she was efficient. She wasted little effort and used the least amount of energy necessary to move her blade. Her style looked more like a combination of forms similar to form VI, but more aggressive. The threat in her style was subtle, though, and Obi-wan could only spot it himself because of his own prowess with a blade. It had a great deal of potential, as far as he could see, and he had no doubt the strange style could prove to be quite formidable if developed and polished further. It was already formidable in its own way, and proved to be a good foil to Dooku's own fencing style (thankfully).

Throw in Anakin's own forward form V and they were definitely holding their own against Dooku, which was a surprise in and above the shock he'd already received. He did note that Leia's and Anakin's styles didn't quite mesh like Obi-wan's and Anakin's did, and neither one could have held Dooku on their own for long (as the former duels had already proven), but Leia in particular seemed extremely familiar with Anakin's style. She would move around his aggressive strokes with an ease that spoke of years of practice. So she'd met a form V user before? Trained with one perhaps?

And that brought up another question: Where was Leia from? Because she didn't look or act like a Jedi. Of course that could have been an act if she'd been living under cover for years and had changed her habits, but if that were the case, then why not reveal herself to them as a Jedi earlier? Was she still under cover somehow? Obi-wan knew he hadn't met every Jedi in the Temple, but he was passingly familiar with most of his fellow Force-users, and he was sure that while Leia seemed familiar somehow, he had never met her before in his life. And if she wasn't from the Temple, where had she received her Jedi training? He could tell that she was not a dark-sider; nothing remotely dark tainted any of her movements or actions.

So who was she? And where did she come from?

He supposed she could be a Jedi from Corellia, but they tended to stick to their own system and not get involved with much of the rest of the Universe. The Corellian Temple was small and a bit rogue (not that he expected any less from Corellia) because almost all of the planets in their system were inhabited and tended to have serious problems on a fairly regular basis. As such, Corellian Jedi were rarely seen outside of their home system with only a few exceptions. So why would a Corellian Jedi be here?

"Strange, this is," a familiar voice had him looking up to see Master Yoda standing near him, watching the fight between Dooku, Anakin and Leia. "That Jedi, who is she, I wonder?"

"M-master Yoda?" Obi-wan asked in surprise. "When...um..."

"Help you, I will. Move, can you?"

"Yes," he said and tried to sit up.

"Move slowly you should."

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-wan replied automatically.

He managed to regain his feet and began walking away with Yoda. Dooku didn't look too happy with this, but he couldn't seem to reach them around both Anakin and Leia. Obi-wan and Yoda moved in silence until they reached the entry way. Apparently, Yoda felt it would be alright to leave Obi-wan here because he stopped and gestured to the wall. Grimacing in pain, the younger of the two Jedi reached over and slowly lowered himself to the floor, gasping in relief when he did so.

"Know more about her, do you?" Yoda asked.

Obi-wan shook his head. "Very little, Master," he said softly. "Anakin introduced her as Leia Solo. Apparently she and her husband," he paused at the word—definitely Corellian, "were offered a ride to Alderaan by Anakin and Padme. Don't ask me what they were thinking, taking on people like that, but the couple apparently offered their help in rescuing me. From Anakin's reaction, I don't think he knew she was Force-trained."

Yoda turned back and watched the fight with a thoughtful expression as he stroked his chin. "Hmm," he said with a nod. "A puzzle, I see."

"Obi-wan!" a voice called out. Obi-wan turned to see Padme leading several clone troopers into the base.

Just then, a cry from the darkened hangar drew his attention back. If things kept up like this he'd end up with whiplash.

"Anakin?" Leia's voice called out, both wary and somewhat worried. It was a strange tone to hear from the woman who was supposedly Anakin's friend. Obi-wan could see her rushing over to Anakin where he'd apparently been either driven with a Force push or Sith lightning. Somehow, Dooku had managed to surprise them.

"No!" he heard Anakin yell in frustration. "He's getting away! Stop him!"

But it was too late. Obi-wan could already hear the engines starting up. Yoda had vanished, apparently rushing after his wayward Padawan. Leia paused as she knelt by the younger man's side. Her blue blade was the only source of light as Anakin's had shut off when he'd fallen. Obi-wan caught the expression on her face as she turned to watch the leaving ship. It was a sad, almost regretful but resigned look all underlined with determination. Something about the expression seemed ominous to Obi-wan.

"Are you alright?" Padme asked as she rushed up to Obi-wan.

"I'm fine," he said, unable to keep the frustration from his voice. "We caught up to Dooku but he took out Anakin and injured me before Anakin could get back into the fight. Then your friend, Leia—who is apparently Force-trained—helped Anakin fight him. Unfortunately, he escaped."

Padme blinked at him in surprise. "What?" she asked. "Leia's a Jedi?"

Obi-wan shrugged noncommittally.

"Gone, Dooku is," Yoda said sadly as he came out of the darkened room. "Unable to stop him, we were."

xXx

"Gone, Dooku is." Anakin heard Yoda say and he growled angrily at no one in particular. "Unable to stop him, we were." The younger Jedi hit the ground with his fist. It hurt, but he didn't wince from the pain

"He...no," Padme said angrily. Then she rushed past the two Jedi standing in the doorway and into the hangar.

The Padawan watched with relief as the woman he loved first glanced around the room, noting the very empty space with an expression that looked almost frustrated as he felt, before rushing over to him. "Anakin! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Padme," Anakin said tiredly. "Just...disappointed."

"Leia?" Padme asked turning to the older woman.

"I'm not hurt," she said, her voice sounding distracted. She'd risen to her feet and had wandered to the ship's exit.

"Leia?" Padme asked, wary and confused.

Just then, a surge through the Force hit Anakin and he gasped. Apparently Obi-wan and Yoda felt it too as he heard other abrupt intakes and glanced over to see that Yoda had actually fallen to the ground, clutching at his chest. If Leia felt it, she didn't show it. Switching off her lightsaber, she turned, shaking her head, suddenly refusing to look at anyone.

"What did you do?" Anakin asked.

Leia looked up, shooting him a blank stare that he couldn't read. "I set a detonator on his fuel cells," she said. "In case he escaped."

"Y-you did what?" Anakin asked, not sure as to whether he should be horrified or impressed.

"Why?" Padme asked. She'd definitely leaned towards 'horrified'.

"To stop the war," Leia said. "A war that would have ended with the fall of the Jedi Order and the rising of an Empire."

Both Anakin and Padme stared at her like she had gone crazy.

The tense silence was broken by Master Yoda speaking in a voice more stern and upset than any Anakin had ever heard from the aged Jedi. "Much to explain, you have."

Leia turned and regarded him for a few moments. Her face had settled into blank mask that somehow made Anakin more uneasy than the angry, accusing expression she'd given him earlier on the ship. She looked almost regal now as she stood in her blank coldness. Anakin had had a hard time seeing a politician in Leia earlier, but he could most definitely see it now.

"Very well," she said finally, although she sounded more as if she were humoring him more than anything. "But first I will speak to my husband."

With that, she strode confidently past Anakin, Padme, Yoda and the clones gathered at the entrance to the hangar. It took Anakin noticing that Yoda had turned to follow her at a slow but steady pace to make him recognize that he and Padme should probably go as well.

xXx

Thanks to the-Writer1988! She's incredible and amazingly fast too. O.o I don't know how she does it. Anyway, let me know what you think! :D


	13. Chapter 12

Chancellor Palpatine did not often misjudge people. He had spent decades studying the psychological and sociological aspects of multiple races (of which he found humans the most amusing and interesting) and he almost always had the general character of a person down after his first meeting. On the rare occasion when he couldn't figure someone out immediately, he would simply do some research and it was an exceptional case indeed when he could not understand a person afterwards.

Those few unpredictable people he either employed or killed (or both).

He also knew his own soul almost as well as he knew those around him. He knew he craved control and power and that he'd studied what he had so he could gain both. He knew he tended to be a very impatient person and so he'd done everything within his power to teach himself discipline over that vice (and many others). He knew what would motivate him best and he knew what to avoid. Truth be told, he'd come to the conclusion that he become a master manipulator to the point where he could influence his own emotions as much as he did to the rest of the universe. While many would find this truth disturbing at best and horrifying at worst, he took a great deal of pride and pleasure from it.

His knowledge of people and their reactions along with his talent in reading the future in the waves and will of the Dark Side were what made his long-term goal of ruling the galaxy possible. It was what made the Senate's and Jedi's reactions to his tactics so predictable, and it had been years since he had misjudged any person or group of people to the extent that a situation did not play out to one of the conclusions he had previously come to and always included something that even the Force could not allow him to foresee.

When events took those kinds of turns, it never played out to his advantage and he would then be stuck reacting instead of controlling...and there was nothing he despised more. It was fortunate that in those types of situations he could turn that hate and displeasure into a great deal of power. The problem with that was the more power flowing through him, the more difficult it became to continue to hide his presence from those Force-sensitive idiots around him.

He was actually having a very difficult time controlling his power right now simply because the depths of his anger ran far deeper than normal. So he paced his office, an unusually disgusted scowl etched across his face.

How could this have happened? His apprentice had joined the Force. It had been undeniable and sudden and for the life of him he could not figure out how it could have happened! He'd run over every single eventuality in his mind, and even the worst case scenarios ended with the former Jedi's capture (and he had his own contingency plans in place in that case). Nothing he knew of the people who would be involved in the events that had taken place would suggest that Tyrannus would die. The man had been a powerful Jedi Master and had become an even more powerful Sith. He'd been intelligent and skilled in many ways and even if he'd somehow been forced to go against a group of the most powerful Jedi...it just wasn't conceivable that he would be killed at this time.

Still, no matter what the Jedi teachings said, luck _did_ exist, and lucky (or unlucky) shots _were_ indeed possible, if highly frustrating and unpredictable. His anger and hatred towards his lack of control of the situation rose again at the thought and it was all he could do to not simply let it run rampant. If he hadn't had those decades of hard-earned discipline, he doubted he would have been able to do so.

After a few more minutes of this circular thinking, he finally used the Force to activate the device that would connect him to his aid, Sly Moore. He didn't wait for any acknowledgment from her, only speaking in short, sharp tones as soon as the button gave way

"Cancel everything else on my schedule today. I am not feeling well."

"Of course," he heard her reply immediately and knew that she would take care of everything. He didn't even bother to tidy the office before he strode out of it, fully intending to find someone to take his frustration out on. Then he would review his plans and alter them where necessary.

He would find a way to turn this around, and he would find out just who was responsible for this. He doubted it was Anakin or his ridiculous master. He'd already dismissed just about every Jedi who would be strong enough to accomplish taking out his apprentice. They were all stagnant, peace-loving fools who would only take a life if they felt there was no alternative. No, someone else must have come onto the scene, someone who was cold enough, strong enough and skilled enough to do what was necessary. There was simply no other explanation.

He would find this person, and depending on who they were he would either recruit them to his cause or eliminate their threat. He may just destroy them anyway simply because of how they had set back his plans.

Oh, yes. Someone would pay for this, and he would enjoy every minute of their suffering.

xXx

Padme and Yoda had both brought transports that, while a tight fit, were indeed big enough to carry everyone back to the large, clone-controlled star cruiser that would act as the Republic's base on the planet for the foreseeable future. Their forces had captured and now held the droid factories of Geonosis, thankfully, and Padme wasn't sure whether to feel relief or horror at this news. She'd joked with Anakin about 'aggressive negotiations', but truthfully what had occurred had turned into an all-out battle that would not be contained to one planet or even a few systems. This could potentially involve the whole of the Republic...the entire Galaxy even if they weren't careful.

The very idea made her sick. Had she witnessed—even been a part of—the birth of an inter-galactic war? Was this what centuries of peace ultimately led to? She'd been so determined to stop this from turning into a major conflict...and not only had she failed rather spectacularly, but she had _helped _to begin it. She didn't regret fighting for her life or for standing up for her beliefs, but she regretted that such actions had been necessary. The war would have started whether she, Anakin and Obi-wan had been killed or not...and there really hadn't been anything they could do about that. No alternative option she could think of could have prevented this...and that hurt worse than just about anything else.

She sat silently in the transport next to Anakin, drawing what strength she could from his closeness and forced herself to think through the consequences of her actions...and not just those that helped to start an inter-stellar battle.

She'd confessed to Anakin. She'd told him what she had vowed to bury deep within her and never give another thought to. It had seemed like a good idea at the time—they _had _been about to die—but she wasn't sure she should have done it. And yet, she didn't regret it either. Part of her felt freer and more alive than she'd ever felt before and the thought of trying to chain that part of her soul now...it was inconceivable. The very idea made her almost as sick as the idea of the war.

Stang, her life was falling apart before her very eyes. Well, everything was changing, and she had yet to figure out if it was for the better or not.

And then there was Leia. Padme's eyes wandered over to the older woman where she stood in a stony silence that, truthfully, did not suit her at all. She hadn't met anyone's eyes and seemed far too lost in thoughts to acknowledge anyone around her. Despite the crowded situation of the transport, the woman radiated a sort of regal solemness that made her seem withdrawn and solitary in a way that Padme wasn't quite sure she could understand.

Leia was a Jedi, and apparently that was a surprise to everyone, including all of the other Jedi on Geonosis. Padme wasn't quite sure of the significance of this fact but she knew that the knowledge surprised her. She had certainly never suspected that Leia was a Jedi.

She also had never guessed that a Jedi would rig a ship to explode like that. She wouldn't have ever thought that _Leia_ could do something like that. It was another of the factors that had coalesced to make her feel so sick. Who was the real Leia? The kind woman they'd met on Tatooine, the angry, emotional mother/daughter Padme had seen during the hyperspace journey to Geonosis or this cold, regal Jedi with the closed-off exterior that any senator would envy?

"I don't understand," she finally said to Anakin, her voice just loud enough for him to hear over the rumbling transport engine.

"What?" Anakin asked, turning his attention to her. She noted that he had been rather lost in his own thoughts as well but she needed someone to talk to and hoped Anakin wouldn't mind her intrusion.

"Leia."

Anakin snorted sardonically in agreement.

"It's just...who is she? I mean really? Is this person we're seeing now really who she is?" Padme continued.

At her words, Anakin glanced over at Padme again and then turned to study Leia with a frown. "I don't know for sure, but I don't think this is the real Leia."

"What do you mean?" Padme asked, turning her gaze back to Anakin, scooting just a little closer and enjoying his presence despite the strange conversation.

Anakin's frown turned into more of a scowl and he seemed to be trying to find the right words to describe his opinion.

"Have you ever killed someone?" he asked.

Padme leaned back, startled at his sudden question. "What?"

His mouth twisted and his brow furrowed a bit more. His hands clenched tighter around the lightsaber hilt he hadn't ever clipped back to his belt.

"I don't mean someone dying for you or in your place, I mean have you ever set out to kill someone and succeeded?"

The question made Padme extremely uncomfortable and she glanced worriedly back at Leia again before turning back to Anakin.

"No, of course not."

"I have."

Padme blinked in shock at his outright confession and worry at his reaction to said confession.

"Y...you have?"

Anakin tried unsuccessfully to hide a flinch from her and he suddenly seemed far more nervous and upset than he had just a moment ago.

"Sometimes, on missions, we have no other choice. It doesn't happen often, but when people attack and there isn't another way out..." He shook his head, refusing to meet Padme's eyes. "Obi-wan always taught me that if I take out my lightsaber, I should never do so lightly. I didn't understand what he meant until I was on this one mission. I was attacked by a group of bandits and there were too many of them. I couldn't simply incapacitate them. I knew I would have to kill them or die. As Jedi we are meant to prevent death whenever we can, but our lightsabers kill. If we have to kill to live or accomplish our mission...when we ignite our lightsabers, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we will kill.

"I grew up with death; saw it so many times on Tatooine that I thought it was an every-day thing. It wasn't unusual to see someone shoot someone else down in the streets over the smallest things and it happened all the time. It's different when you're the one killing though." He paused, releasing the lightsaber hilt with one hand and put it over his chest in a fist as he stared straight ahead, eyes fixed on the boots of the clone trooper engaged in a conversation with a fellow trooper in front of him.

"Leia did what she felt she had to do. I don't know why or how I know it, but I do," he said, forestalling Padme's question before she could voice it. The senator closed her mouth and continued to stare at him, willing for him to continue. He did.

"She did what she felt she had to do. That doesn't mean it was easy or that it hasn't affected her." He glanced over at the older woman, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "I think she's been through wars before and she's had to do terrible things; make really awful choices. This is how she reacts to hard things that happen in her life. It's not really her. This is what she becomes when she has to."

Padme couldn't help but be impressed. His comments were terribly insightful, and for a moment he didn't seem like the impetuous teenager that she found amusing and refreshing, but a man who had also seen far too much for his life and dealt with it as best he could—a man who had never really had a childhood due to circumstances. She wanted to hold him at that moment just to let him know that while she may not completely understand his experiences, she did appreciate his view and sympathized; she wanted him to know that she would be there for him.

Simultaneously, she wanted to rush over to Leia and throw her arms around the woman too. Just what had she been through to have to revert to and hide behind this mask of a majestic statue that no one could touch just to cope? And why could Anakin suddenly understand her like that? He was a talented, determined boy who had gone through so much and become an amazing person because of it. Padme saw a strength in him that she couldn't help but respect because she wasn't sure she would have been able to go through everything he had and coped as well, but he'd never been that particularly insightful when it came to other people. A least not as far as she'd known. Then again, she hadn't really seen him interact with a whole lot of people since he'd come back into her life. Perhaps he really had grown in that way too and she just hadn't seen it because she'd been too focused on ignoring her growing feelings for him?

"What will the Jedi do to her?" Padme asked, turning to watch Leia again as if searching for some sign of the woman she'd been before. Truthfully, she wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for, but she hated seeing Leia like that. She didn't like that the woman had basically killed Dooku (he should have been arrested and tried and no one had the authority to ignore those rights like that), but she had essentially done so to stop a war...which was more than Padme could say about herself. Padme knew she was willing to die for her causes if that was what she felt would be required of her, but would she be willing to kill for them? Should she? She didn't know, and truthfully she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"As a Force user, she will fall under the jurisdiction of the Jedi. They will try her and...after that, I don't know. I'm pretty sure they won't kill her though. I can't imagine the Jedi Council condemning anyone to death."

Padme felt a weight lift off of her shoulders at his comment and she relaxed ever so slightly. Leia wouldn't be killed. She may be horrified at the woman's actions, but she didn't want her to die. She didn't want anyone to die, but there was something different about Leia. Anakin talked as if he had some sort of connection to her, and truthfully Padme felt the same and she could not for the life of her understand why.

"I'm worried for her, Anakin," she said quietly after a moment, slipping her hand into his and hiding it between them. Only someone looking for it would see the action for what it was.

"Me too."

"And what about Obi-wan?"

Anakin's mouth thinned and he glanced over to the other transport flying next to them. Obi-wan was being treated on that vehicle now and she could tell that not knowing everything about his Master was getting to the young Jedi. She had been treated and her own (admittedly deep) scratches wrapped before they'd gotten on the transport and while her wounds would likely scar, that would be the worst thing she would take from this. She desperately hoped it would be the same for Obi-wan.

"I don't know."

She hesitated and looked down, biting her lip. "And what about us?"

He didn't answer for several seconds, but when he did his gaze held nothing but sincerity.

"Marry me."

Padme stared at him in shock and leaned away again.

"W-what? But Anakin, we can't...we..."

Anakin glanced across the way at Leia, although this time it was probably to make sure Master Yoda was still at her side as an escort.

"I love you. You love me. You said so yourself," he whispered, leaning in close to her. "I've loved you since the first time I saw you on Tatooine. My feelings won't change and...it feels right."

"But...we'd be living a lie," she protested weakly. "You said it would destroy us and I agree."

"I think it would destroy me more to be parted from you," he said, leaning even closer to her. She felt a shiver run up her spine at the feel of his breath on her skin.

"It would go against everything you believe," she pointed out, wishing she didn't sound quite as breathless as she felt. "And it could ruin my career as a Senator. We are needed now more than ever."

He shook his head and smiled. "_I_ need you, Padme. I don't know what would happen if I lost you now, but it wouldn't be good. I can't deny how I feel about you and I want you to know that I am willing to give up everything for you."

"No," she shook her head vehemently although her voice never rose above the gentle murmur of conversations around them or the hum of the engine. "You can't give up being a Jedi! It's everything you've ever wanted! And the galaxy needs you now! It needs both of us! I can't give up everything I've worked for, and I don't think you can either. Not now when we're on the brink of war. Too many people would be hurt if—"

"Then we'll keep it a secret," he cut in with a reassuring squeeze to her hand. "We'll keep doing everything we need to to help the galaxy and keep it concealed until this is all over."

She couldn't look away from his eyes, feeling so drawn into those blue depths. "Will it ever be over?" she asked quietly.

His gaze hardened and he nodded determinedly. "I'll make sure of it."

How did he think he could do that? True, he was a Jedi, and a strong one at that, but he was still just one person. And yet she could feel his utter assurance sweep her along. Somehow when he said it, she could believe it.

"Alright," she whispered, leaning towards him.

He suddenly looked so hopeful that she couldn't help but see the sweet 9-year-old from her memories, and yet she also couldn't help but see the man he'd become.

"Then you'll marry me?"

She felt a grin spread across her lips. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you," she said. She wanted to throw her arms around him and never let him go but didn't dare to. She could see the same struggle in him, in the way he stiffened and yet seemed to melt into her all at once. Instead he leaned forward and brushed his lips across her forehead and smiled. She felt the promise in that touch and had to force herself to remain under control.

She didn't know when they would follow through with those promises, but they would. She knew that more deeply than she'd known anything else in her life, and while the prospect and vastness of what they had just promised to do wanted to overwhelm her, she couldn't deny that she agreed with Anakin; this would be hard, but it felt so _right_ that she couldn't ignore it.

And so she wouldn't.

xXx

Leia didn't remember much of her trip to the large battleship that would serve as her confinement. She'd been far too lost in her thoughts to do more than follow whoever had been ahead of her. She didn't even remember who that had been, but suspected it had been a stormtrooper...clone...whatever.

Frankly, she didn't know what to do now and that worried her. She hated feeling so uncertain. At least she'd killed Dooku.

She suppressed a pang of regret at that. She knew it had had to be done, but she still hated it. She'd always hated it when someone had to die, especially by her hand. It had been part of the reason why she hadn't been able to go after Jacen herself. One of many reasons. She'd had little problem shooting down stormtroopers because that had been necessary to survive, but it had been so much easier at a distance. Even fighting Vong had been difficult for her because she hated killing people. She always had. Life was sacred, and that belief had only strengthened during her Jedi training.

But she would never deny that she was a soldier. Jedi, Princess, mother, wife, sister and freedom fighter. From her time in the Rebellion and then in the New Republic she was used to making the hard decisions and living with the (often horrendous) consequences of those actions. She would continue to do that here. That didn't mean she had to like it.

And she doubted the Jedi would understand if Master Yoda's reaction had been anything to go by.

Just what were they going to tell the Jedi to explain their situation anyway? She'd wracked her brain and nothing came to mind. She couldn't begin to figure out how she and Han would explain their very presence, let along their knowledge, to the Jedi at the Temple, and she had a feeling that it would not go well no matter what they did.

She wanted to sigh and hide her face in her hands and pretend that none of this was happening, but she was a Princess of Alderaan (and so much more besides) and her training would not allow her to do so in such a public setting. Later, when she was alone with Han, she could let her mask down, but until then she would not. She would be the Princess and the Rebellion Leader and an official in the Republic and a Jedi Knight.

She would put on a front, no matter how alone she felt; no matter how much she inwardly cried for Luke and Amelia and Jaina and even her sons. Few had ever been able to tear down or see through her mask, and she very much doubted the Jedi of this age would be any different.

She would get through this because she was Leia Amidala Skywalker Organa Solo, and nothing in the known universe could make her give up.

xXx

They'd put Han in a cell. When he'd been told he would be detained, he had been expecting a small room with a locked door, but they had calmly led him to a detention block and asked him at blaster point to walk into a transfer cell no larger than three feet across and one foot wide. He barely had enough room to pace without brushing the force-field that would sting like a blaster bolt if he touched it. He'd been here for a little under a galactic standard hour and already he was about ready to tear down the durocrete walls with his bare hands. He never had done well locked up and his worry for his wife didn't help in the slightest. If someone didn't come along soon, he was going to really start kicking up a fuss and see how they dealt with a Corellian temper (and from a man who was used to dealing with Jedi).

The sound of the door at the end of the hall lined with cells identical to his opening caught his attention and he turned towards the sound. The steps following that sound froze his heart and it took him a moment to remind himself that the sharp foot falls weren't stormtroopers but clones. Too bad the idea of all those clones freaked him out almost as much as the idea of stormtroopers did.

It only took them a few seconds to escort a very familiar figure down the hall and he couldn't help the relief that rushed through him at the sight of his wife.

"Leia!"

His voice drew her out of whatever thoughts had preoccupied her and he saw the relief in the slight slumping of her shoulders and the breath she released.

"I'm so glad you're alright," she said, stepping towards him.

"Please remain where you are," one of the stor—clones said politely, stopping her in her tracks. She glanced at the one that had spoken and then turned to see that the others were messing with the key pad for the cell across the hall from Han and frowned.

Han realized at about that moment that they did not intend for their two prisoners to share the same cell and he spoke up with an angry growl, about ready to jump through the stupid force-field if necessary. "Hey, if you're not gonna do the smart thing and let us go then at least put us in the same cell." He really wanted his wife in his arms at the moment, if only to prove that she was really there and safe.

"I'm sorry, but these are our orders," the clone that had spoken before said, turning to Han.

"That's my wife," Han said, his voice dangerous.

"Han," Leia spoke up, drawing his attention. When he looked at her, she shook her head. "Don't."

Han immediately frowned in worry, now wanting her right there with him more than ever. There was something in her voice that he didn't like, a broken tone that he didn't hear from her often. Something had happened, and he couldn't tell whether it had been something good or not (although he was leaning towards the latter).

Once Leia had been situated in her own cell and the force field keeping her there raised, the 'speaking' clone addressed both of them.

"We have been informed to tell you that you will be taken to Coruscant and turned over to the Jedi Council for trial."

"Trial?!" Han practically yelled. "What trial?! Why—"

The clone cut him off, speaking louder and continuing as if Han hadn't said anything at all.

"A ruling from the Jedi Council is considered binding by law and thus you will be under the same rules and regulations as if you were being tried by the Republic. Anything you say can be used against you. As you will be tried before the Jedi Council there will be no attorney provided unless you wish to be tried again by the Supreme Court of the Republic for an overruling and your request is accepted."

With that said, the clones turned and strode out of the room.

Han watched them with clenched teeth before turning back to look at his wife.

"Tried for what?"

She didn't answer for a few moments, but when she did it was with a tone he hated—it was her 'Rebellion Leader/Princess" voice; the voice she used when she refused to let any of her emotions show.

"I was able to get your detonates onto Dooku's ship. I'm positive he was a Sith. The way he acted and his..." she faded off and Han had no doubt that anyone else would have shuddered, but not her. Not when she was like this.

Then she locked gazes with him and lifted her chin in that proud way she did when she was facing the consequences of her actions. That was one thing he had always loved about her. She always took responsibility for her decisions. Sometimes too much responsibility in Han's opinion, but he still loved her for it.

"I killed him, Han," she said. "I got the detonators aboard his ship."

The former smuggler blinked at his wife for a few moments before frowning in puzzlement. "I thought you _wanted_ to stop him."

"I wanted to stop him from starting a war."

"Didn't you?"

Leia continued to stand there rigidly as she answered his questions, and he didn't like it. "Yes. I had to kill him. There was no other way."

Ah, so that was the problem. "At the risk of sounding too much like Luke, did you do it out of anger?"

For the first time her mask fell ever so slightly. "No."

"Hate?"

She seemed to see where he was going with this because she looked down and shook her head. "No."

"Then you're fine. I'm sure Luke and Saba would say the same thing."

Leia's voice had quieted when she answered. "I still killed him after he had disengaged."

"You mean he attacked you?" Han asked a touch of anger in his voice.

"No, he attacked Obi-wan and Anakin."

Han paused, eyes widening in surprise.

"Obi-wan? As in Obi-wan Kenobi? As in the old fossil Ben Kenobi?"

Leia nodded, the touch of a smile on her lips (and he would gladly take that over that stupid front of hers any day). Han whistled and ran a hand through his hair.

It took him a few minutes to wrap his mind around that and drag it back to the root of the problem. "So let me get this straight, the Duke guy attacked your...uh..." he hesitated. He'd been about to say 'father', but doubted that it would be a good idea to mention that to her at the moment. He noticed that her smile had melted back into that mask. "Companions," he finished lamely but brushed it aside, knowing she'd understand what he meant, and continued. "So you snuck aboard his ship and planted those fireworks."

"Yes."

Han nodded, looking over at her intently. "I say 'good for you'. I know how much you hate that it happened, but taking him out of the picture could save billions of lives."

She nodded her head but didn't look up. "I know."

Han watched her for a few moments before he sat down with a sigh and folded his arms across his chest. "You know, you never were cut out to be a soldier, no matter how good you are at it."

Her sardonic snort showed how much she agreed with him. He couldn't help but grin. He was starting to see his wife again. Her front was crumbling and he was going to do everything he could to shatter it.

"Jaina would agree with you," Leia said as she too sat down, although she was still rigid. "She didn't think I was cut out to be a very good mother either."

Han waved his hand through the air. "She got over it. 'Sides, she couldn't have been more wrong in that case."

Leia shook her head with a wistful smile. "No, I'm not so sure I disagree with her."

Han didn't bother to hide his put-upon sigh as he rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his head in a move of forced nonchalance. "You're just like Luke. Whenever something happens with him he starts putting himself down and questioning everything too. It's pathetic."

Her smile took on a dry and somewhat annoyed tone. "Must be a family thing."

They sat in a somewhat pregnant silence for a few minutes before Han leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched his wife intently.

"You did the right thing."

And finally that mask broke, falling away as she slumped against the wall. "I know. I still hate it."

Han smiled in relief, the crooked, cocky one that he knew she loved no matter how much she denied it.

"It's when you don't hate it that I'll get worried."

Leia's grin this time was sincere and grateful. "I love you," she said.

His grin widened. "I know."

She rolled her eyes in fond exasperation at the old, inside joke. Then, after a moment, her smile faded and she suddenly seemed rather sheepish, like she didn't want to tell him something because of how he would react but she would anyway because that's just how she was.

"What?" he asked warily.

She didn't answer for a few seconds and looking steadily more uncomfortable. Finally she spoke up slowly and with a small grimace that she only showed to her closest family. "I had to take my lightsaber out to fight him at one point. They know I'm a Jedi. That's why we're being taken to the Jedi Council to be tried."

Han couldn't help but just stare at her as the implications of her statement sunk in. When they did he really could only say one thing.

"Kriff."

xXx

Thanks so much to the-writer1988 for beta reading!


	14. Chapter 13

"Han," Leia said with a tired, resigned tone, "language, please."

"Well, what else am I supposed to say?"

It was a testament to her state of mind and weariness that she put a hand up to the bridge of her nose and answered with a simple, "I don't know, but not that, please?"

Han raised an eyebrow. "Don't want to be reminded that I'm an uncultured nerf-herder?"

Her hand moved to cover her eyes and she leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. "Han, please be serious." He did not like the tone in her voice there either. It was her 'weight of the galaxy is on my shoulders' voice and it never boded well. Killing the guy had gotten to her more than he realized. He wondered why for a moment. She'd killed people before, better people than Sith. What was so different about this? The premeditation? He could understand that, he supposed. Of course, it could be the entire situation—being in the past, her parents, the Clone Wars, Sidious, the Jedi—catching up with her too.

Yeah, she wouldn't be very appreciative of him trying to lighten the mood at the moment. Fine, he could be serious...mostly.

"Alright, so what are we going to tell them?" he asked, hoping she had an answer because he certainly couldn't come up with something off the top of his head that would explain everything.

"I have no idea," she muttered, and her face went back in her hands.

They sat there in a tense silence for more than a minute before Han hesitantly voiced something that had just occurred to him. "You know, we could just tell them the truth."

A long paused followed his suggestion.

Then Leia answered, sarcasm dripping from her words and she glanced up at him with a dry expression. "Why not? Because I'm _sure_ they will believe that."

Han drew himself up a bit, slightly offended that she would dismiss his suggestion without even really considering it. "They might."

The sarcasm dropped away but the disbelieving skepticism did not. "Would you, Han?"

He hated to admit that she had a point, but that didn't dissuade him. She should know she'd never throw him off that easily. Any arguments he won against her he did with pure determination and really it was the only thing he had going for him in that area. "Not on your life," he answered with a shrug, "but they're Jedi. They'll sense we're tellin' the truth."

Leia sighed and shook her head as she sat up straighter and shifted, obviously trying to find a more comfortable position. "No, Han. They'll assume I'm shielding the truth from them or something."

Han frowned. "Well there has to be some way we can prove ourselves."

She shook her head and braced her hand against the side of her face, looking more tired than ever.

"We could tell them about Palpatine," Han said cautiously, his voice slow and soft. "They're bound to be interested in him."

To her credit, she considered it. He could tell when she was thinking about something because she focused on an empty space and didn't allow anything to distract her. It was different than the somewhat-blank look she got when the Force tried to tell her something (or whatever the heck Jedi did when they got like that).

Finally she shook her head. "We run into the same problem. Why would they believe us? How could we prove it?" Leia returned.

Han hmmed, conceding her point. "I guess they can't just walk up and ask him, can they?"

"Not when he has this much power."

At that, Han scowled in distaste. "I hate politics."

Leia's answer held a small but firm amount of amusement and it lifted his heart to hear it in her voice. "I know. That's what you get for marrying a Princess though."

Han raised an eyebrow in challenge. "You were just a Rebel Leader when I met you. One we had to rescue from what I remember."

"Don't you start with that 'damsel in distress' junk. Anyone in that situation would have needed help. Besides, that's getting off topic. Your argument is invalid because Rebel Leaders are just as involved in politics as governing royalty." She waved his argument away with a dismissive hand, but he could see the teasing in her gesture.

"I can't exactly help that I fell for you. Trust me, I didn't wanted to," he pointed out. And he wasn't pouting! He wasn't!

"You didn't?" She asked intrigued, although he did not miss the warning in her tone. This could turn into an argument if he wasn't careful...and while he did not want to fight with her at the moment, he couldn't help but wonder if she'd forgotten exactly how they'd interacted when they'd first met.

"You drove me up the wall!" he said, annoyed to hear the defensive note in his own words. "No one could push my buttons like you could and you kept sending me mixed signals!"

"Mixed signals?" Leia returned, slightly incensed. "You were a smuggler! Someone who only stuck around because Luke practically begged you to. That and we could actually pay you something. I was a little preoccupied at the time and wasn't trying to send you _any_ signals."

That was pure crap and she knew it. Still, he couldn't help the smile and chuckle. "I guess it's just my animal magnetism then."

Leia shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Describing you as an animal isn't too far off, nerf-herder."

He'd gone back to wishing they were in the same cell. Things always got more interesting when she stooped to calling him names. "You found it appealing," Han said with a flirtatious grin.

"Despite my better judgment. Normally I go for intelligence."

"Hey, you could have ended up with that pathetic Hapan prince," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

"Han," Leia said warningly, although she seemed far more relaxed and at ease than she had been. "Isolder is Amelia's grandfather. At least _try _to be respectful."

Han snorted. "I'm her grandfather too."

And then the teasing, light-hearted mood vanished because that thought brought up Jacen. They'd gotten to a point where the sight of Amelia wouldn't always send their thoughts in that direction, but the subject was bound to come up sometime when discussing the Hapan Princess' heritage, and it was still so painful...

Han cleared his throat and forced his thoughts away. "So yeah, what are we going to tell them?"

Leia sighed and shook her head again. The weariness, he noted, had returned. "I don't know, Han," she said. "I just don't know."

He sighed himself and laid down across the seat. "You look exhausted. Why don't we sleep on it?"

Her expression seemed so utterly haunted for a just a moment, but it was gone so fast he wondered if he had imagined it. Still, she didn't appear to be looking forward to sleeping. He didn't blame her, but he also knew she'd give in. She needed it and she knew it.

"Alright," she said and stretched out on her own bench. He felt a brief flash of jealousy because she didn't look nearly as cramped as he felt. There really wasn't anything he could do about that though, so he pushed the thought aside, closed his eyes and lay there for several seconds, trying to ignore his discomfort.

"Han?" Leia asked. He peeked out at her through his eyelids and saw her gazing at him from where her head rested on her arm.

"Yeah?"

She smiled. It was small but real, and he would take that over her fake, ear-splitting grins any day. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

He blinked at her, not liking the note of desperation he'd heard. Funny, he hadn't cared for a lot of little things that had happened since they'd come back.

Finally he answered with a shrug. "You'd carry on, get rid of the Sith, save the Jedi, prevent Darth Vader from ever coming into being and then get back to Jaina, Luke, Ben and Amelia." He said it as if his knowledge was obvious; a given. His words soothed her, although he could tell she disagreed. She didn't say anything in response, although she did nod.

Then she closed her eyes again.

He watched her worriedly for a moment before returning to his own attempts at sleep.

Eventually, he succeeded.

xXx

Jedi Master Kit Fisto had always been curious. Where other initiates had had problems with anger, arrogance or an overly passive nature, Kit Fisto simply could not contain his wonder at the galaxy around him. It had been something he'd never been able to fully control, and so, as a Padawan, he'd come to the conclusion that he needed to use it instead. After a while, he'd learned to ask the right questions and begin deducing the most probable answers to them. As a Master, he found he could be quite the investigator when it became necessary, despite his usual, laid-back attitude (that he saw no reason to change any time soon).

Over the years, he'd grown to love the idea of figuring out solutions to problems and finding the underlying meanings to situations. It had developed from a natural state into a finely honed skill and even a bit of a hobby as he would often devote a great deal of time to the pursuit of satisfying his curiosity. It was something he both enjoyed and felt would benefit the known universe, and as such, he would gladly go where his skills were needed.

And judging from the conversation he'd just overheard to between the Solos, his skills were definitely needed.

The transport cells in which the couple had been placed were more uncomfortable than Kit would have liked to leave potential allies in, especially considering how they had been so cooperative since their 'capture'. Still, Yoda had been correct in his deduction that the two would end up talking and giving away information they may not have otherwise. Now thanks to the auto-record feature built into the cells, the Jedi had access to a conversation that had most definitely proved enlightening.

Kit stared curiously down at the pages of notes he'd filled on the data pad in front of him and found he had to reassess that thought. He wasn't sure 'enlightening' was quite the word to describe what he'd overheard. 'Fascinating' seemed far more fitting in Kit's opinion. While their conversation had indeed confirmed or discarded some theories he'd come up with, it had also brought up more questions than it had given answers. From what he now had to go on, the couple and their story may well put his skills to their greatest test yet.

First had been Leia Solo's announcement that Dooku had died a Sith. That had stunned Kit into momentary stillness as he had to wrap his mind around the thought. Her proclamation was by no means proof that the man had fallen, but she had sounded so sure and...it made him shudder just to think about it. If a Master like Dooku could fall to the Dark Side then who was really safe? And if she was right...well, Kit knew that if he'd come across someone he felt positive was a Sith he would definitely do everything he could to end that person's threat. As a Jedi, he would feel _obligated_ to in all truth. If Leia Solo had honestly believed what she'd said, then she'd had a very good reason to try and eliminate the Count. Kit had been very relieved indeed when she'd answered that she had not killed Dooku out of hate or anger, and if she could stand up to the former Jedi then she definitely would have to have the skills of at least a Knight. Well, the equivalent of a Knight because she certainly did not follow all of the Jedi code.

He almost couldn't believe that he'd heard Mrs. Solo openly proclaim to be a Jedi despite being married as well as a _mother_ and a possible grandmother. The only conclusion he could come to was that she had been trained by a lost Jedi somewhere in the unknown regions and had not been taught the full code or had ignored that part of it, having no one but possibly this Luke, who she was somehow related to, and Saba...whoever those two were. Kit couldn't remember any Jedi with those names off the top of his head that weren't accounted for, but that didn't mean much. He'd have to do some research when he returned to the Temple.

Actually, he had a great many names and various topics to look up. On top of looking for Luke and Saba, he'd gotten the names of Jaina (possibly the couple's daughter), Ben, Isolder and Amelia, who was apparently a granddaughter of both Han Solo and this Isoldur (who was apparently a prince of the Hapes cluster). He'd heard of the Hapes cluster before, but knew little about them. And then there was the fact that they'd said Leia was a princess and had supposedly given up that title to become a rebellion leader of some sort. That could definitely narrow things down, but there were a great many rebellions that had happened throughout the galaxy and there were even more royal families that Leia could belong to. It should make it much easier to find if she'd run away with a smuggler, but he still doubted it would be an effortless discovery. Yes, he would definitely have his work cut out for him when he returned.

Then there was the couple themselves. Kit found their interactions puzzling. Half the time they seemed defensive and teasing while the other half was split between a weary comfort and a deep sadness that they somehow shared. He supposed that he could understand something like that, but where he would expect one to become offended at something the other had said they tended to just laugh it off, while other, seemingly harmless comments could expose a very raw nerve. Throughout the entire conversation he couldn't help but think that the two may as well jump around and wave their hands under a bright, flashing sign that said 'ATTACHMENT' in big, bold, brightly flashing letters. It spoke of a great deal of history together and their relationship was obviously stronger for it. He wasn't sure if that should be classified as a good thing or not with Mrs. Solo's claim to be a Jedi.

Other things they'd said had just been utterly confusing. Calling Obi-wan Kenobi an 'Old Fossil' when the Solos were at least a decade (if not more) older than the Jedi and then the idea of 'preventing' Darth Vader from existing...

And wasn't that just frightening? They knew of a Sith by name but were trying to prevent him from coming into being. Did they know who the Sith Master was and who he would try and turn next? It was a possibility, but then why would anyone, especially a half-trained Jedi on an outer rim planet, know who the Sith was? And how? Or perhaps Leia had had a vision? That made a lot more sense, but he was still jumping to possible conclusions and refused to settle on any theory that he hadn't pegged for outright truth.

Kit found himself looking forward to the couple's answers to his questions and, thankfully, he had little doubt that they would answer the Jedi's inquiries. Leia Solo had not denied that she'd killed Dooku (actually, he noted with approval, she seemed to regret it), but he had to wonder just why the two seemed so adamant that the Council would not believe the truth of their story. He'd heard some pretty unbelievable tales in his time and found himself trying to come up with the most implausible tale he could. It wound up being something along the lines of how they'd been woken from some sort of cryogenic freeze and were centuries old or something equally as strange.

Perhaps he had allowed his Padawan to influence him a bit more than he'd realized. Nahdar, like most Mon Calamari, tended to keep his head out of the clouds most of the time, but every now and then he'd come up with something so completely left-field that Kit just had to wonder where the boy could have conceivably gotten whatever idea he'd presented.

Still, something told Kit that he'd have to be awfully open-minded to believe whatever Leia and Han Solo presented because it would either be an outright lie (in an attempt to give them a credible story) or an unbelievable truth. At least that's what the couple seemed to think, and his gut told him they were probably right.

The most troubling thing they'd said in their conversation though, next to the 'Darth Vader' comment, had been what they'd insinuated about Palpatine. What could they possibly know about the man that the Jedi didn't? What about him would the Jedi even be interested in? He was a politician, and thus undoubtedly had skeletons in his closet, but what Senator didn't have a secret of some sort to keep?

Anyway he looked at it, their arrival had thrown everything the Jedi knew to the wind, and he doubted anything would be the same because of it.

Having determined that they were not going to continue to speak any time soon, he made sure that the recording device was still running before rising to go and find Master Yoda. No doubt the Grandmaster would be most interested in his notes.

xXx

Darth Sidious felt immensely better. He chuckled as he thought on his current state of mind. Most sentients thought of 'better' as being more at peace. That didn't exactly work for him. He'd simply regained control over his displeasure after he'd taken his aggression out on some well-deserving, lesser life forms. The power rush that came from such an episode always left a pleasurable feeling behind, as if he were coming down from a spice-induced high. He didn't care for comparing the two states of being as he had far too much discipline to ever consider the simple escape methods used by the common masses, but he had yet to find an equivalent quite so accurate, if far weaker.

Allowing a smile to show his pleasure at the savored pain of the corpses he left behind, he walked out into the hall of his Coruscant base's lower levels. The room he'd come from held what remained of the low-level Senators who had joined others in the Senate against him one too many times. They had been 'kidnapped' by pirates a few weeks back and had ended up in his care. He would have preferred a Jedi or two, but the sniveling cowards had been adequately difficult to break. At least they could scream.

Unfortunately, he had no more time to linger on such pleasant memories. He had to find a way to turn this situation to his advantage.

The war effort had been greatly diminished by his incompetent apprentice's passing, but it would still come about. Even if he left everything alone someone would take Dooku's place as head of the Separatists (although, of course he would undoubtedly have a hand in it, but he would have to be cautious) because the unrest and tension had already built to a breaking point, and not even he could stop that now. No, his largest setback at the moment dealt with the fact that he no longer had an apprentice. He would have to remedy that.

As he calmly made his way to the upper quarters where he would be able to take his personal speeder back to 'Senator Palpatine's' apartment, he went over the many candidates for the vacant position. Dooku had mentioned he'd found a young woman who already used the Dark Side and had trained in the Force previously, but by all accounts she was not nearly mentally stable enough for the rigors that Sith training would require, so he dismissed this 'Ventress' outright.

There were a few Jedi who met his criteria. Quinlain Vos, for example. A Jedi Master with a history of obsessive behavior and voluntary near-brushes with the Dark Side. The man's apprentice, Aayla Secura, had also had her own fall, although she had become rather rooted in the light recently. Both could eventually make ideal apprentices, however he needed to make an addition to the Sith Order as soon as possible, and turning either one to his side permanently would take time and effort he simply could not afford at the moment. The same could be said for most of the other possible apprentices currently belonging to the Jedi Order. Unfortunately, that also included one Anakin Skywalker. Palpatine knew the power the boy wielded would be his one day, but the Padawan simply wasn't ready to turn at the moment and wouldn't be for a while yet.

The pleasant feeling from before was quickly ebbing away as he continued to go through the list of likely Sith Apprentices and found few that fit his highest priorities. He needed someone strong, driven and intelligent and he needed them yesterday. Unfortunately, it seemed that he would simply have to take a younger apprentice and train them until Skywalker was ready...or until someone else came along who would fit his criteria better. He'd been grooming the boy for so long, but while the mere possibility of his power was nothing short of intoxicating, the boy still had a moral compass that Palpatine could not seem to get him to dismiss. He found it fortunate that frustration aided the Dark Side because dealing with the boy was an exercise in patience. At times he almost found himself impressed with Kenobi for being able to hold out as well as he had. Almost.

Realizing that he had come no closer to fulfilling his priorities and that he had the promise of a rather long night ahead of him, Senator Palpatine took his black, hooded cloak off and walked into the hangar where his speeder waited. After giving instructions to the droid that served as his driver, he sat back and began preparing for the arduous process it would undoubtedly be to select the immensely lucky person who would become his next Sith Apprentice.

xXx

As a side note, I'd like to say that I actually do think Ventress would make a viable Sith Apprentice. She was dedicated, powerful and while a tad on the crazy side (for a darksider) wasn't nearly as bad as Sidious seems to think. I'm going to chalk this up to his blatant sexism showing itself. He would prefer to take a male student over a female student any day.

Thanks to The-writer1988 for beta reading this! She's amazing! :D


	15. Chapter 15

AN: WARNING! I am going to be screwing with the timeline a bit here and I want to reiterate that this entire story is set in "Legend" or Old EU. I'm going to try and at least make it as plausible as I can, but I figured a warning might be appropriate. Other than that, enjoy.

xXx

Han and Leia spoke little over the next couple of days. Truthfully they were both tired enough that they slept most of the trip back to Coruscant and were glad for the break, as uncomfortable as their 'quarters' were. When they were awake and conscious, they would spend a fairly decent amount of time exercising (Han because it gave him something to do, Leia because besides meditating, that was about all she could do when it came to her Jedi training).

About an hour after they had woken up that first day, a Jedi named Kit Fisto came down and apologized to them for the inconvenience of their quarters and explained that until they had a hearing or a trial, this was following standard protocol. He'd also told them that the ship had recently gone into hyperspace and that they would arrive at Courscant in just a few days. Han wasn't impressed and truthfully Leia wasn't either, but she did appreciate that he came down to explain this to them personally. He also let them know that they would have a hearing first to determine whether a trial would be necessary or not.

After that, Leia asked for a data pad that would allow her to access the laws and constitution of the current government. To their surprise, Jedi Fisto said he would see what he could do and then left them. When he'd returned about two or so hours later, he was carrying a large tray of food that had Han's mouth watering (it almost made up for their imprisonment...almost) and had given Leia a data pad saying that that had been all he could do on such short notice. She'd thanked him and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day reading over the information.

Fortunately for Han, he'd had the foresight to ask for some sort of maintenance or mechanics data pad with magazine articles he could read up on, namely something with the most recent models of ships and their specs. Fisto had returned with far more of those and Han had been surprised to learn that the data pads had been Anakin's. He and Leia had exchanged glances at that but hadn't said anything about it.

After that they'd simply read, allowing only a few random comments to break the silence. Leia had studied the laws of the Old Republic as a child on Alderaan and had brought a good deal of those laws back into existence once they had begun the New Republic. Sadly, the Empire and both Republics hadn't been that different on paper. She'd always found it interesting and more than a little disturbing as to what a few altered words could do to change the entire meaning of a law.

Fortunately, she knew just about everything about the New Republic like the back of her hand, and found most of what she read a simple brush up. One of the largest sections that differed from the New Republic referred to the Jedi. No surprise there, but while she had read those particular laws before, she had never been too interested in them once Luke had described what he wanted to do with the New Jedi Order. He'd wanted something inherently different that wasn't at the Senate's beck and call.

Now that those laws applied to her, she found herself going over them again and again, and she found herself surprised with what she read. For instance, one of the more basic amendments stated that the Jedi would be responsible for any Force user found disobeying the law within Republic space. Leia had been surprised (only vaguely remembering reading something like that before) and had wondered exactly why the Senate would allow that. After that, she began to keep a list of questions to ask Master Fisto when he came back.

Unfortunately, when she'd spoken to him that evening, he'd said he hadn't known the answer to her questions as they were rather detailed he hadn't focused on political history. He would ask some of the other Jedi and see if he could find anyone who could give her the answers she'd asked for.

The next day, he'd informed them that no one he'd spoken to knew anything and she would have to wait until they reached the Temple. Leia hadn't been happy, but she'd accepted his answers with a polite nod and continued to study the information on the data pad.

Both of them had cabin fever so badly by the time they reached Coruscant that they'd seriously discussed simply breaking out. Between Leia's Force abilities and Han's knowledge of mechanics they were sure they could come up with something. Fortunately they were escorted from the detention center by Master Fisto before they could put any plan into action. He seemed happy enough to take them to a viewing area where they could watch the approach to Coruscant. Leia asked, rather dryly, if that was protocol too. He'd smiled at her with a raised eye ridge and asked if she really wanted to stay in the brig. Leia had decided to keep her mouth shut after that.

It was amazing both how much and how little of Coruscant would change (had changed?) in the upcoming decades. Up until the Vong invasion, the 'center' of the galaxy really had had few differences in its horizon line, with the exception of the disappearance of the Jedi Temple and the appearance of the Imperial Palace in more or less the same place. Other than that, though, Leia couldn't help but notice that it _felt_ different, more secure and superficial than the planet she was used to. Of course, this was a planet that had lived in peace for centuries. They knew nothing of the hardships of war that the future Coruscant had been subjected to. It was an interesting change and she found herself contemplating it as the ship fell into orbit.

A few minutes later, Master Fisto had led them to a smaller ship that would take all of them and many of the Jedi who had survived down to the Temple. Anakin and Obi-wan weren't among them, according to Jedi Fisto, they would be going in another ship. Leia couldn't help but notice that none of the Jedi seemed to want to meet their eyes and had to wonder why. They weren't criminals or anything. At least not yet.

Eventually she concluded that she didn't care and simply reveled in being able to lean against her husband. Their closeness did a lot to comfort and sooth them both.

As they'd been some of the first beings lead onto the shuttle, they were sitting close enough to the open cockpit to be able to see out of the front window, and thus were able to get a good look at the Jedi Temple. It was recognizable almost immediately, and Leia couldn't help but catch her breath. Han had noticed and followed her gaze, only to let out a low whistle.

"I never imagined it would be like...that," she said. She'd seen pictures and holos of the old temple, but it had never seemed quite so grand as it did at that moment.

"Wish Luke could see this," Han muttered. Leia nodded in agreement. She had no doubt her brother would absolutely love seeing the Temple here and whole like this.

"It is indeed a rather magnificent sight," Master Fisto commented with that relaxed smile of his. "Actually, it's one of my favorite sights. There are few things that can compare to coming home."

Both Han and Leia's expressions faded as pangs of homesickness shot through their hearts. Leia could feel it in both her and Han and couldn't help a wistful sigh at the reminder. Thankfully, if Master Fisto noticed their sudden mood change, he didn't comment on it.

It took nearly half an hour to get from the Temple's main hangar to the 'cells' where Han and Leia would be staying. Again the Jedi insisted that they remain in separate rooms, but at least these had decent cots for beds, small refreshers and they would have access to a few amenities, like approved data pads. It annoyed Leia that the small rooms had transparent force fields on the side of the room that met the hall, but all in all it was a large improvement over their previous accommodations.

And they would take full advantage of it.

xXx

Palpatine could not believe his luck. It had to be the will of the Force for there was simply no other way he could explain being able to find a possible temporary solution to his current apprentice problems. A spy from the unknown regions had somehow come across and been able to get him some Intel on a certain former student of both his and the Jedi... The woman had tried to kill him when she discovered the depths of his ambition, and he'd sent no small amount of assassins after her in return, but perhaps he could make a concession and coax her back for this.

He began to compose a letter. This would take all of his skill as a master manipulator and a politician to accomplish. He would still kill her, but she may be very helpful in leading the Seperatist army along with Grevious before he did...

xXx

Anakin stared at the holo screen with a slightly troubled expression that belied the roiling emotions he felt inside. No doubt his Master would think it was a welcome change (as Anakin was watching the scene quietly instead of bursting out and letting the galaxy know everything he felt), but his control wasn't the result of self discipline so much as it was a result of the lack of knowing how to act.

The Republic had declared war on the Separatists and apparently, the Jedi were going to be the leaders and commanders of the army for the conflict. Everyone had been so afraid that it would turn into a war, and the space containing the planets ceding to the separatists had been unofficially called a 'front' for several months now...but it just hadn't seemed real. If it hadn't been for Geonosis, it still wouldn't have felt real to Anakin.

He wondered how Padmé was taking this and had to cringe. Not well, undoubtedly. Perhaps he should visit her and see if he could do something to help her. Not to mention he could use a good distraction right about now and he needed to ask her if she would claim the Lars were her distant relations instead of his family. The last thing he needed was the Jedi Council on his back for going to see his mother. They may suspect since Anakin and Padmé had been on Tatooine, but seeing as the Lars lived several hundred kilometers South of Mos Espa, they probably wouldn't bring it up and Anakin really didn't want another lecture from them and Obi-wan. He was already in trouble enough for going to try and rescue him when the Council had told him to stay put, even if Padmé had more or less taken most of the blame for that (with a grace and nonchalance that frankly astounded Anakin).

Yes, a visit to his future wife sounded like a good idea. He did, after all, have a few hours of free time at the moment.

Switching the holoscreen off, he turned and walked out the door with new purpose. He'd felt...strange in the Jedi Temple ever since they'd returned from Genosis. He couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with the fact that he and Padmé were basically engaged (and he couldn't help but feel an elated smile come over his face at the thought) or with the new war, or with Han and Leia's presence ...or perhaps it was a combination of all three.

He wondered, briefly, if the older couple had heard the news. How would Leia feel to know that she'd failed? That she hadn't stopped the war at all?

His mind drifted back to the words she'd said as he absently grabbed a speeder, waving at the droid that kept an eye on the vehicles.

_"To stop the war; a war that would have ended with the fall of the Jedi Order and the rising of an Empire." _

Just what had she meant? Anakin couldn't really picture any government other than the Republic, at least not for decades at the earliest, and that was if everyone decided to work for change. And what did she mean by the 'fall of the Jedi Order'? Did she mean everyone would fall to the Dark Side or that everyone would die or that the Order would change to a point where it wasn't the Order anymore? He hoped it was the last option. Well, he hoped it wasn't any of the options, really.

Perhaps she had visions like he did? Had she known what was going on? She'd seemed so sure...

He shivered and focused more on driving the speeder. It only took a few moments for the knot of tension and worry to begin to seep out. Flying always did that to him. He never felt more free then when he was behind the wheel of a ship or a speeder. Besides, he was going to see Padmé.

Oh, right, he'd better com her and let her know. He pulled the device out of his pocket and went to flip it on when he noted that the 'message' light was blinking. Frowning, he pushed the button that would allow him to listen and heard Obi-wan's voice.

"Anakin, I hope you get this soon. Don't forget that we have to formally give our official preliminary statements at 19:00. Please don't be late." The com went silent and Anakin wanted to groan, especially when he looked down at the clock and saw it was almost 17:00. Stang. Still, seeing Padmé for a few minutes was better than nothing at all.

With a sigh, he clicked the automatic call button that would give him Padmé's com frequency and waited for her to pick up. At the moment, he couldn't help that he just wanted to sneak away with her somewhere and forget that the rest of the universe existed; go somewhere just to be with her and pretend there was no war and no trials and no Senate and no Jedi...

"Senator Amidala's suite," a prissy voice answered the com.

Anakin blinked. "Threepio?" he asked, surprised that Padmé had already put his 'engagement present' to good use.

"Oh! Master Anakin! It is good to hear your voice indeed! Have you heard the dreadful news? The war seems to be all any news channel can report about. Mistress Padmé is in a terrible—"

"Threepio!" he said loudly and, thankfully, the droid paused.

"Yes, Master Anakin?"

"Tell Padmé I'm on my way over. I can't stay long, but I wanted to make sure she was alright."

"Oh. Oh, I see. Well, let me inform her and I shall be happy to assure you that she will most undoubtedly be extremely—"

"Threepio," Anakin said again, this time through gritted teeth.

"Oh, of course. I shall go and inform her immediately." Anakin let out a sigh and went back to focusing on winding through the traffic lanes so he could get to 500 Republica as quickly as possible. Only a few minutes later, Anakin heard the droid's voice come over the speaker yet again.

"Mistress Padmé says she will be delighted to have you."

Anakin smiled. "Good. I'll see you in a few minutes." He clicked the com unit off without waiting for a response and tossed it onto the empty seat beside him. He wondered, briefly, if the fact that he had spent the last day since they'd gotten back to Coruscant memorizing every plausible route from the Jedi Temple and the Senate building to Padmé's apartment made him a little too obsessed but ultimately decided that he didn't care.

When he arrived at the apartment not five minutes later, he realized he'd gotten there just in time to try and calm his future wife down from a rant she'd apparently been going off on for the better part of an hour. He couldn't help but be grateful that he had spent the time necessary to map out the fastest route. Padmé needed him and he would do what he could to be there for her.

xXx

"Ya know, Princess," Han drawled sarcastically from his 'room' across the hallway, "I have to say that so far, I'm not impressed with our Jedi friends."

Leia didn't respond.

She didn't have to. Han knew she agreed completely. She wanted nothing more than to be with her husband at the moment, but suspected that the Jedi were trying to keep her and Han apart for some reason. They also had to deal with round-the-clock security. Their watchers (one step away from being prison guards in Leia's opinion) were young teens who had apparently been instructed to not respond to anything Leia or Han said. In fact, except for Kit Fisto, no other Jedi had seemed to even want to bother talking to them despite the fact that they had both been fairly cooperative.

"If this is how they treat their friends, then I don't wanna know how they treat their enemies," Han grumbled. Leia nodded absently as she glanced over at his cell across the hall, sensing him shift a bit, rather than try to maintain the nearly meditative stillness that Leia had adopted. Han was merely moving from where he'd been leaning against the wall near the front of his cell to sit on his cot, shaking his head as he went.

She knew he hated being stuck like this. Force, _she_ hated being trapped here too, cut off from her ability to begin moving against Palpatine and do what she could to change the future. Just the idea of the power and status the man wielded at this point in time...it was nothing short of _terrifying._ Even with everything she and Han knew from history, she suspected it would take every ounce of preparation, skill and foreknowledge they could muster to outmaneuver the old man.

"Still think they're worth savin'?" Han muttered, drawing Leia's attention to him again and she couldn't help but send him a stern look once she re-tracked her train of thought back to his original comment.

"Jedi respect all life, in any form. Any life is worth saving," she said pointedly.

"Yeah, maybe," Han said with false sincerity and a roll of his eyes.

If Leia had been anywhere near him, she would have smacked him for such a comment. "Han!" she snapped. "How could you say that?"

Han raised an eyebrow. "What? You're acting like maybe even His Wrinkledness could be saved if you try hard enough," he stated dryly.

She frowned at the thought. He'd meant Palpatine. They had come to an unspoken agreement that they would avoid names when Han signaled to her that some of the cells they'd been put in were bugged. Han's descriptions of various people had been getting more and more colorful, and yet he still somehow managed to remain vague enough that she was fairly certain no one would make the connections to the people he referred to.

Finally she sighed and looked away. "You know what I mean." She wasn't sure Palpatine could be saved at this point. Actually, it was more like he didn't _want_ to be saved. He seemed happy to wallow in his miserable darkness. It was something Leia didn't think she'd ever be able to understand. She would take truth and trust over power and politics any day. After years of filling her life with the latter, well, she'd had more than enough of having to watch every single word that came out of her mouth for fear that the media would get wind of anything even remotely misspoken and twist it. She may have been good at it, but that didn't mean she liked it. Especially in recent years. It just felt like she'd gotten involved in a losing battle. It was depressing and while she enjoyed the challenge, eventually it had simply gotten to her and she'd just wanted out.

Han let out a sigh,drawing her back to the present. She glanced over to see that he had opened his mouth to say something else when the sound of the main door opening distracted the couple. Both of them turned towards the noise and rose, the instinct to be on their feet when facing the unexpected rather ingrained in them at this point in their lives. Three Jedi approached and stopped in front of their cells before turning to face Leia.

"Greetings," Kit Fisto said with a slight bow and a reassuring smile. The other two Jedi followed suit and Leia gave a small bow of polite acknowledgment in return. They turned to Han almost as an afterthought and repeated the motions before facing Leia again. While they were (rather obviously) making an attempt to include Han in whatever they were doing, Leia could definitely tell that she was the focus of their regard.

"Master Fisto," Leia said, pulling her mask of dignitary confidence out.

He returned her polite nod with one of his own and then turned to the two other Jedi. Both of them were women and humanoid, but that was where the similarities stopped. The taller one had dark, smooth skin and almond shaped eyes. She wore a cool expression and exuded an air of serene confidence and experience that Leia couldn't help but be impressed by. The younger, slightly shorter one had blond hair pulled back in a simple up-do. Her frosty, gray-blue seemed far less open than the others. She didn't seem agitated in any way, but a sort of unease thrummed through the Force under the calm mask of indifference that she wore.

"This is Jedi Master Adi Gallia," he said, pointing to the dark-skinned woman, "And this is Jedi Knight Siri Tachi." Both women nodded respectfully to both Leia and Han.

"It is an honor to meet you," Leia said politely. "I am Leia Organa Solo, and this, as you know, is my husband."

"Han Solo," Han grouched, but he did nod to them. The way Han was feeling at the moment, she knew they were lucky to get even that level of polite respect from him. The two women must have sensed this because they turned their attention back to Leia, not before exchanging a subtle glance that the former Princess wasn't sure what to make of.

Jedi Fisto smiled warmly once the introductions were out of the way and always focused on either Leia or Han, she noticed. Given the fact that three Jedi stood in front of them, along with some of the phrasing the man had used in their earlier discussions as compared to this one, Leia expected what he said next.

"We've come to conduct the preliminary questioning concerning the events surrounding the death of Count Dooku of Serreno. As is standard procedure, you will be taken separately to be interviewed by this panel, and those interviews will be recorded. The results of this questioning will help determine how we move forward with the overall investigation and trial. Do you understand?"

Leia and Han shot each other dry glances before they both nodded.

"Good. We'll hurry this along. It should be relatively painless," Jedi Fisto said with that contagious, beaming smile of his. Leia couldn't help but smile back just slightly this time as she acknowledged that he did mean what he said, and although she was still not looking forward to the upcoming interrogation, she could tell that he would try to make it as easy as possible. "Mrs. Solo, would you mind accompanying us first?"

"Of course not," Leia stated calmly, then waited as Jedi Tachi entered the proper code into the panel at the side of the door. Based on Han's scowl he hadn't been able to catch the sequence.

"This way," Jedi Fisto gestured after the ray shield dropped. Leia nodded graciously and followed the Jedi Master out of the detention area. She didn't look back at the other two Jedi trailing after her, holding her head high and carrying herself like the dignitary she would always be at heart.

They didn't go too far before they came to a plain door which opened into a small room holding four padded chairs (three on one side, one on the other) and a table in the middle. It was definitely one of the nicer interrogation rooms Leia had been questioned in.

Master Fisto escorted her to the lone chair and held it out for her. Leia took it with a grace she could tell surprised them a little, and she made note of those tells as she settled into the poised, confident posture she would normally assume at a Senate meeting. She watched as the three Jedi situated themselves across from her, although Jedi Tachi didn't sit but stood with her arms crossed behind the chair on Leia's left, closest to the door.

"Well," Jedi Fisto said after a moment, "I suppose it would be best if we got straight to the point. The planet Serreno is more than a little upset that one of their own, a leading member of their society, was killed, so I must ask: did you, knowingly and intentionally, place explosives upon the personal ship of Count Dooku of Serreno with the intention to kill him?"

Leia looked at each of the Jedi in turn before setting her gaze back on Jedi Fisto. "Yes."

Knight Tachi shifted at the answer, but she was the only one who had a reaction.

"Why?" Jedi Fisto asked.

"He was sponsoring illegal, unfair trials, conducting Jedi executions, consorting with people who had claimed to want to start a war and he was a Sith."

Jedi Fisto nodded. "I see. Do you have proof that he was a Sith?"

Leia shook her head. "Only that I could sense the darkness in him."

"That doesn't necessarily make him a Sith," Jedi Gallia pointed out.

"With the knowledge of the Dark Arts that he displayed in his duel with Jedi Skywalker and Jedi Kenobi, I would say it was highly unlikely he was anything else," Leia returned.

The Jedi nodded, although her words still contradicted. "Unlikely, but possible."

"Which brings up another question," Knight Tachi cut in. "How do you know what any Force user feels like, let alone a dark one?"

"What she means," Jedi Fisto said, obviously playing mediator, "is that the Jedi Order knows of only one other order that trains in the Force and uses lightsabers as weapons; the Sith."

"I am no Sith," Leia said, her voice still calm but frosty and defensive none the less.

Jedi Fisto shook his head. "We never claimed you were. We were just wondering where you received your training."

Leia considered her words carefully for a few minutes before deciding to go with the truth. She wanted to earn their trust after all. "My brother."

"And where was he trained?" Jedi Gallia asked.

Again, Leia decided that honesty would serve them all best in this situation. "There was an old man who lived on my brother's home planet. He claimed to be a Jedi, noticed my brother's latent talent in the Force and trained him."

This time, all three Jedi exchanged glances. "What was his name?"

Leia held back uneasily, although she made sure that none of the Jedi would be able to see her emotions on her face or in her body language. The problem was, if she gave them the true name of Luke's original teacher it would undoubtedly earn distrust because they would feel it was an obviously fake name. The problem was, she didn't want to take the chance that they would be able to tell if she were lying. She also didn't have another name she felt comfortable providing.

"He called himself Ben," she said finally, again figuring that in the long run, honesty would help her the most. "Ben Kenobi. He died shortly after he started training my brother."

Another shift from both Tachi and Fisto, but Gallia stayed as calm and stalwart as ever. Leia wasn't sure whether to be more impressed or annoyed at her lack of reaction.

"And what did Mr. Kenobi teach your brother?" the aquatic Jedi in front of her asked.

Leia raised an eyebrow. "I have to ask what bearing this has on the trial."

"Your own morals and beliefs will undoubtedly have an affect on the outcome of the hearing," Jedi Gallia responded nonchalantly, but it was weak and they all knew it. They were simply fishing for their own curiosity. Still, Leia let them have it. If she didn't try to hide anything, it would only help them trust her more. She knew too many people who could sense if another being was hiding something, and while she did not want to give everything away at this point, she still did not want to earn their distrust.

"He started teaching my brother in the ways of the Force. My brother learned everything from telekinesis to saber forms from him."

"Started?" Jedi Gallia asked, showing just the barest touch of emotion for the first time. She seemed careful and wary, maybe even just a bit worried, but Leia couldn't be completely sure. She also couldn't really blame the woman if she thought about it. If someone showed up with Jedi techniques in their time period, they wouldn't have been to happy either.

"Yes," she said. "He had two teachers. They both died before I could meet them. I don't know much about his second one, though. Luke doesn't talk about them much. He simply called the latter 'an old friend'."

"Luke is your brother's name?"

Leia nodded. "Yes. As far as I know, everything else he knows is self-taught."

A short gasp from Jedi Tachi. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Why didn't he come to the the Temple to continue his training?"

"He had his reasons," Leia shrugged. "I wasn't about to complain. He was a good friend and we...I needed him to stay." She smiled nostalgically. "It wouldn't have changed if I'd known we were siblings. Quite the contrary, actually."

"You didn't know you were related?" Jedi Tachi asked.

Leia shook her head. "No. As far as we both knew, we didn't have any siblings. Our parents..." she paused, wondering if she should continue as they had long since left any sort of 'relevance' out of the equation, but made the choice to press on. They wanted answers and she really didn't have any reason to not give them if she was careful. If it gave them peace of mind, then she would at least attempt to give them the answers they wanted.

"Our mother died in childbirth," she paused for only the barest moment to make sure she could keep her emotions under control, but was sure only Jedi Gallia caught it. "Our father was severely wounded and put on life support. I went to live with some friends of my mother's, and my brother went to live with my father's step brother."

"And no one told you about each other?" Jedi Tachi asked.

Leia's mouth set into a firm line. "By the time we found out, my adoptive parents had died as had his aunt and uncle."

"So you don't know why you were kept apart and ignorant of each other?" the blond Jedi spoke again.

"We have our guesses, but I think that this has gone off track long enough," Leia said, allowing just the barest hint of annoyance into her tone.

"Just a few more questions, if you don't mind," Jedi Fisto said. Leia wasn't happy about it, but she conceded with a nod. She'd drawn a line and hopefully they wouldn't try to cross it again. "Which of you is older?"

Well that was easy enough. "We're not sure. He's my twin brother, and we were separated at birth. I do not know a great deal about his life before we were reunited, and he met his first teacher before that.

"Could we contact him?" Jedi Gallia asked.

Leia shook her head. "I have tried, but we are unable to reach him."

"Convenient," the younger Jedi said with a soft snort. Master Gallia shot the blond woman a warning glance before returning her gaze to Leia. The two seemed closer than just acquaintances. Master and apprentice maybe? Friends? Colleagues who had worked together before? Leia took note and then filed the thought away for later contemplation and focused on the task at hand.

In response to the younger Jedi's comment, Leia shrugged. "I cannot say why we are unable to reach him. Given that my granddaughter is with him, as I said, it has me rather...worried." There, that should give her and Han a reason to be nervous and antsy. Well Han. She refused to show any worry, physically or through the Force.

Jedi Fisto frowned. "Do you believe he is in trouble?"

Leia looked at him for a moment before smiling fondly. "Knowing him, most definitely. However, if he needed help, he would find a way to contact me. I'm positive I would know if something had gone truly wrong."

"How?" Jedi Gallia asked.

Leia turned to her, face once again stony. "Because we are twins, we share a rather unique bond. We can always feel each other's presence to an extent no matter the distance." She ignored a wave of homesickness that washed over her as she spoke.

"Fascinating," Master Fisto said, his tone nothing if not earnest. "We have trained twins and triplets in the past here at the Temple, but, as you know, we tend to discourage attachments. As such we have not seen such a strong bond of this type before. Would you mind if I asked you more on this subject at a later date?"

Leia did not like the sound of that, mainly because it would be more than a little uncomfortable (especially due to the fact that at the moment she most definitely did _not_ feel Luke's presence), however she also wanted to be as accommodating as possible, not to mention she liked Kit Fisto. He smiled easily and didn't seem as rigid as some of the other Jedi of this time that Leia had met. He was also easy to trust, but then again that was undoubtedly the point of assigning him to investigate anything having to do with her and Han. Still, until proven otherwise, she saw no reason to not give him the benefit of the doubt.

"If you like," she said with an accepting nod.

"Excellent," he said, smile firmly back in place. Then he looked down at the data pad in front of him. "Now, getting back on track, what exactly are your beliefs?"

Okay, this was really starting to get annoying, but she doubted they would just let it drop.

"I believe in mainly the same thing you do."

"Then why did you attack Count Dooku?" Jedi Tachi asked. She still hadn't taken a seat and Leia had to wonder why she was in there at all. Perhaps it was some sort of tradition to have three Jedi present at a questioning?

"I...saw a future," she said carefully. Here was where she'd have to watch what she said. She still wasn't completely sure she wanted to let them know she and Han were from the future. "He led a war and killed millions. Han and I thought that we could stop the war if we...removed him from the picture."

"You mean if you killed him," the blond woman said dryly.

"We tried to capture him," Leia defended coolly. "I set the explosives as a last resort."

"Do your visions often come true then?" Jedi Fisto asked.

Leia looked him straight in the eye. "Yes."

"I see." Then he looked down at the data pad in his hands, frowning slightly. "Well, it seems we're done here. You have admitted to setting the explosives that killed him, no matter your reasoning, so we are required to take this to trial."

"I understand," Leia responded with a conceding nod of her head.

"Well then, I will escort you back to the detention area," Jedi Fisto said. Then, to Leia's surprise, he turned to the other two. "You can wait here, Master Gallia, Knight Tachi."

"But—" Jedi Tachi started, but Jedi Gallia put a hand on her arm.

"If you feel you can handle this," the taller woman said.

"It's a breach of protocol," the blond muttered under her breath.

"Siri," Leia heard Jedi Gallia sigh as she was led from the room. Almost as soon as the door had closed, Jedi Fisto turned to Leia.

"I'm terribly sorry for all of that. I know a lot of those questions were personal, but the Council is understandably surprised and wary when it comes to your existence. They want to know they can trust you."

Leia allowed herself to relax a little, sighing as she followed the other Jedi from one hallway to the next. "I understand more than you realize, which is why I answered them." She shook her head. "I know this must be new territory for you as well as us."

"Indeed," the aquatic Jedi said with a nod. Then he cocked his head over his shoulder as he glanced at her. "We haven't even approached your marital status, and I'm positive that the Council will be rather...interested in that."

This time Leia's face looked grim. "I'm sure," she replied.

Somehow she figured that this would all be more trouble than it was worth.

AN: So, I must have rewritten this at least a dozen times and I'm still not happy with it. This is honestly the best that I could come up with, so I hope it's not too disappointing.

Something that would help me right now is me knowing what you guys would like to see from this story.

Where do you think the set-ups have been heading or will head?

What do you think I need to address that I haven't already (even if you think it's obvious that I will address it)?

What do you think should happen?

What are you looking forward to the most?

And anything else that you would like to comment on. Know that just because you answer these questions doesn't mean it will happen, but it might be able to help me stop wandering around in limbo with this story.


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